Boundary Committee Sends Plan to HPISD Board
After seven meetings, more than 800 comments, and a whole lot of discussion, the Highland Park ISD boundary rezoning committee agreed on a plan at its Oct. 7 meeting.
The committee, which is made up of parents and residents, is now sending that plan to the Board of Trustees, who will take up the matter at its Oct. 15 meeting.
“This has been an iterative process, and the end result is that we have a boundary map that we believe sets up all five elementary schools for success,” committee chairman Paul Rowsey said in an email sent out Tuesday afternoon. “I truly appreciate both the way that our committee has gone about its work and the way our community has been involved in the process.”
The committee developed criteria for setting the boundaries early in the process, looking at long-term viability, contiguous attendance areas, safety, student travel time, and taking into account cost. The plan also attempts to evenly balance the numbers of kindergarten through fourth-grade students with building capacity, all while considering the number of sections, student population, and percent of capacity.
The community was also a consideration – the committee sought to maintain continuity with existing attendance boundaries when possible to continue to allow schools to foster a sense of community.
If approved by the board, the new boundaries will go into effect for the 2020-2021 school year. Michael M. Boone Elementary officially opens as Highland Park ISD’s fifth elementary school next year.
Students currently enrolled in third grade can attend their current school or their new school to which they are zoned.
To see the full plan, click here.
