The Fort Bend school district’s attendance zone plans for two schools set to open next fall have drawn mixed reactions from parents.

While some agree with the school board’s preference for the proposals that are "the least disruptive," others say district officials haven’t done enough to address their concerns.

Following two public hearings last week, the school board is scheduled to vote on the plans Dec. 14.

Mike McKie, assistant superintendent for high schools, said public thoughts gleaned from the hearings will be forwarded to the school board for consideration before its decision.

Among the relatively mild reactions compared to past rounds of attendance zone changes, residents from Sienna Point, a neighborhood off FM 521 in the Sienna Plantation area, have repeatedly urged the district not to transfer their children to the new elementary school.

Sienna Point neighbors Michael Florance and Krystene Woodard told trustees that their subdivision is part of the Sienna Plantation development and Sienna Point kids should attend the same schools as those of Sienna Plantation.

Florance attributed the perception that Sienna Point is separated from Sienna Plantation to the developer’s failure to build a path to link Sienna Point with Sienna Plantation.

Parents said that only a year ago they were relocated from Scanlan Oaks Elementary to Schiff.

New elementary boundaries

Under the district proposal, the new elementary, the district’s 45th being built at 636 Glendale Lakes Drive off FM 521 south of Texas 6, would absorb 448 children from both sides of FM 521, including the transfer of 111 Sienna Crossing Elementary pupils from the Arcola area.

Sienna Crossing Elementary is at 1011 Steep Bank Trace in Missouri City.

With the proposal, a small southern portion of the Schiff Elementary attendance zone, including the Waterbrook subdivision where there are 12 pupils, would be absorbed into that of Sienna Crossing Elementary.

An eastern section of the Sienna Crossing zone, where the 111 pupils live, would be annexed to the new elementary's attendance boundaries.

The plan would reduce Schiff's enrollment from 799 to 503, including 43 who live in Sienna Point, and that of Sienna Crossing from 974 to 881.

Among other concerns, Sienna Point parent Craig Alexander asked district officials to consider busing the neighborhood’s children to the new school as there are no sidewalks on the street.

New high school

The high school, the district’s 11th, is being built at 500 Waters Lake Blvd., south of Sienna Plantation near the Hillwood residential development.

The new high school would open with 951 students, including 240 Elkins students who live west of Sienna Parkway.

District officials picked an option in which students who live north of Texas 6 stay put in their current campuses, while those in the Sienna Plantation area south of Texas 6 who attend Elkins and Hightower would be assigned to the new school.

Other options previously proposed would have affected neighborhoods as far as in the attendance zones for Clements and Dulles high schools to the west.

Officials said they tossed out those options to avoid moving Vicksburg subdivision students back to Hightower from Elkins High, to which they were transferred from Hightower High two years ago.

Officials said the proposal is based on neighbors’ preference to stay put expressed to the district.
However, two Vicksburg parents at the Nov. 11 public hearing said they desire relocation back to Hightower, which is closer to their neighborhood.

Concerns on public input

At the same hearing, some other parents expressed concerns that not more options were presented to seek public input. Several alternatives were discussed during recent school board workshops where the public was not allowed to comment.

During the Nov. 9 school board meeting, parent Trish Fisher angrily told officials that they had failed to seize the opportunity to fix the long-standing overcrowding problem at Clements High School.

"It was because you made those decisions based on Mr. Petro’s faulted (student growth) projections," she said of Lee Petro, the district’s director of demographic studies and special projects.

She said she won’t support another district bond referendum unless Clements’ issue is resolved.
Sienna Point Mike Schultz is among the parents who were upset that the district scheduled school board workshops at 5 p.m. They said they didn’t feel being “part of the process” of the zoning planning.

"I think 7 p.m. will be better because most people have jobs," Schultz said.