By Moses Leos III
With a new sixth middle school slated to open next year, Hays CISD is starting the process of redefining attendance zones in the district.
Hays CISD Public Information Officer Tim Savoy said the district hopes to complete the process by December in order to begin planning for next year.
“Our hope is that we can get an attendance zone in December or shortly thereafter,” Savoy said. “The sooner everyone knows the attendance zones, the better they can plan for the next school year.”
The process of rezoning falls into the hands of Hays CISD’s Attendance Boundary Rezoning Committee, which offers rezoning recommendations to the public and the Hays CISD Board of Trustees. It will be up to the Board to make the decision on which way to go.
Savoy said policy requires administration to have two maps as a starting point.
Thus far, the committee has now moved on to plans 3 and 4 in the process. Savoy said the plans are “fluid at this point” and that the district has the ability to mesh together plans if need be. Savoy said the district is “very early on in the process of rezoning.”
The district will present its recommendations from plans 3 and 4 at a public forum that will be held on Nov. 10. Savoy said that will be where citizens can offer their thoughts and comments on the plans.
From there, Savoy said the committee would take comments and feedback from the public and craft two additional plans. Those plans would be forwarded to the board of trustees as part of a second public forum in December.
Savoy said the district is encouraging residents to give feedback on the rezoning maps.
“Anyone who wants to weigh in on the maps, we encouraging them [to offer feedback],” Savoy said.
One of the larger points of discussion, according to Savoy, are comments from those in Buda who want to stay in the Dahsltrom attendance zone. He also said discussion would also center around the downtown Buda area and what parts would fall into the Barton Middle School or the new campus zone.
For the district, priority at this point revolves around zoning for the new middle school.
“Everything else will go from there,” Savoy said. “We will make adjustments to alleviate pressure on some schools with higher populations that have them now, or will have them shortly in the next couple of years.”
But one additional point was addressing 5th and 8th grade students who may be affected by rezoning. Savoy said feedback has come from parents who say it wouldn’t be fair for students to move schools after families invest money in uniforms for extracurricular activites.
Savoy said parents could apply for a transfer to keep their students at their current campus.
Savoy said the process remains fluid.
“There are lots of opportunities to weigh in [with their opinions]. We want people to weigh in,” Savoy said.
Be informed