Katy ISD is preparing to bring an additional elementary school and junior high school online in time for the next school year as the district’s student population edges toward 80,000.
Deputy Superintendent Ken Gregorski told trustees enrollment is at 79,698, which is 217 more students than the district had projected this school year.
“We usually projections around semester or soon after, so we’re hitting it quicker than we ever have before,” Gregorski said at the Katy Independent School District work study meeting Monday, Sept. 17.
He predicted the district would be over 80,000 by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, representatives of K12 Insight presented preliminary results of a community survey for zoning both elementary No. 42 and junior high No. 16.
Shelby McIntosh, vice president of K12 Insight, emphasized the data from the survey was pulled Sept. 11. The survey is still posted on the district’s website and is open to the public. Gregorski said it likely would be taken down in October.
Out of three possible options for the junior high school zoning, survey respondents, most of whom are parents with children enrolled in the district, most supported the third option. Option 3 involves a minimum amount of rezoning.
However, district leaders recommended Option 1 in June when they unveiled the options, stating it would help relieve overcrowding at WoodCreek, Tays and Seven Lakes junior high schools.
Several parents signed up to speak during the meeting’s open forum, stating under Option 1, their children would be forced to attend junior high schools even farther away than their current schools. Kids who now live within walking distance would need to take the bus, several said.
Because the results of the survey on the elementary school aligned with the district’s recommendation, Trustee Ashley Vann suggested the board move forward with the elementary zoning recommendation at its November meeting and push the junior high decision to December “to give the community some time for feedback.”
Trustee Rebecca Fox wanted more information on the schools’ feeder patterns and said they want to get as close as they can to pure feeder patterns, meaning students move up from elementary to junior high to high school together.
Lee Crews, chief operations manager, said under Option 1, there is one group of students who would be split off to go to a separate junior high, and then rejoin their elementary school classmates in high school. But Crews pointed to Tays Junior High, which has a projected enrollment of 1,752 in 2027 under Option 3 and 1,409 under Option 1.
“Option 1 creates a great balance in that southwest quadrant. Option 1 creates better use of our buildings in my opinion,” Crews said. “Option 3 is the minimal move option, and that is probably why I believe it is the favorite. It does not create very good balance.
Trustee Bill Lacy said Option 3 will force the district to readjust its boundaries again in the not-so-distant future. Still, he agreed with Fox that the feeder schools provide a sense of community.
Both Fox and Board President Courtney Doyle said they’d had children undergo the rezoning process in Katy ISD. Fox said she wants to see the percentage of students who would be split off into a separate junior high school from their elementary classmates before rejoining them in high school.
“These are not numbers,” Fox said. “These are boys and girls … It’s a bigger decision than just numbers and not an easy one.”
But trustee George Scott said he’s been watching rezoning at Katy ISD for decades, and there’s always some amount of disruption.
“We’re now at a point where we have substantial buildout in an area of the district, and now is the time that we’re going to have to make some tough decisions,” Scott said. “Because we have a responsibility to every campus, to every zone, we have to make some decisions. When we start looking at maximum use of the facilities, they are are kids, but they are numbers.”
Doyle said rezoning is probably the most despised job the board faces. She said one of her children was moved five times in six years, so she understands parental anxieties and said the board doesn’t enjoy the process.
“He is 19, and he is OK. He survived it,” Doyle said of her son. “I was more worked up than he was … we are listening to you. We feel for you and for the children that have to be moved.”
In other business Monday night, the board received a preview of the proposed design for the Katy High School CTE (career technical education) program as well as the fieldhouse expansion.
Katy High’s CTE department boasts the largest Future Farmers of America program in the state, said Sarah Martin, director of CTE. The school has 25 CTE teachers and 1,900 students enrolled in its programs, but they are crowded and the department continues to grow.
Construction to expand the facility is scheduled to begin in early 2019, and it is set to open in fall 2020.
Lisa Kassman, executive director of facilities, planning and instruction, said the district’s fieldhouse was constructed in 1997 and has not had any major upgrades since. The proposed redesign would bring the square footage to 17,000, which is about 6,000 more than the current layout. The facility would be two stories with space for a bigger weight room, coaches offices and storage. Construction is scheduled to start at the beginning of the year and finish in time for fall 2019.
“Katy High School has several athletes — thousands,” said Athletic Director Debbie Decker. “The fact that this training room is going to be renovated and added space, that’s going to benefit every athlete that’s over there on that campus.”
-Julie Silva with the Katy Times