KYLE — On Oct. 21, the Hays CISD Board of Trustees discussed potential elementary school zoning maps in preparation for the opening of Ramage Elementary School in fall 2025.

According to chief communication officer Tim Savoy, this is the first time that the board will act as a committee when monitoring suggestions for the school zone, as opposed to previous years when it was composed of citizens throughout the district.

On the district’s website, there were four map options available. According to Savoy, the first and second maps are identical, except for an area that originally had a group of students going to a separate middle school from their peers. This was fixed from the first map to the second.

The third draft is similar to the second, but would move students in the north area of the Sunfield subdivision to Buda Elementary School, rather than Sunfield Elementary School, in an effort to alleviate future overcrowding at the latter school. Savoy explained that they have received feedback and have included it in the proposed map. Trustees Courtney Runkle and Geoff Seibel expressed negative feedback for moving these students.

The fourth and final map was created by the Transportation Department and would shift portions of Camino Real to Uhland elementary schools, some of Uhland to Fuentes Elementary School and students from Fuentes and Hemphill elementary schools to Ramage: “It was a good effort there, but when you get into the nitty-gritty on that, it actually bumps Uhland way up, like it goes from 900 to 1,000 starting next year and then grows from there. So, that wasn’t particularly viable.”

Ultimately, the staff recommendation is to move forward with the second map.

“It achieves the basic goal of what we’re trying to do here,” said Savoy. “So, that’s our recommendation. It achieves the basic, ‘What we have to have next year’ and that’s a zone for the new elementary school. It also achieves the goal of keeping things stable.”

Part of the feedback from individuals regarding the third map stated that their kids are already comfortable at the school they currently attend and they do not want to be moved.

According to the officer, the students in the new school will be predominantly coming from Hemphill and a portion of Fuentes.

Additionally, he noted that parents from Sunfield, and also McCormick Middle School, have commented about overcrowding and that the district does have plans to amend this over the next few years, without major adjustments all at once, but at the time, this map was about the new elementary school.

“When we’re looking at the bond, obviously high school four would be the opportunity where there might be a much larger process to try to readjust and realign all of our attendance zones by drawing the maps,” Savoy said.

“The question before you right now is do you want to go with something that is going to get us what we need and cause the least disruption or is this the time that y’all … just crack it open and go for gold on it. I think we are okay; we can wait,” he said.

If the board wanted to begin the process of zoning other areas to aid with overcrowding, the officer explained that they could pre-zone for future developments at a later date, with portable classrooms as a last result.

Despite this potential planning, Savoy stated that there is an urgent need at McCormick and soon to be at Simon Middle School. An idea that other districts do is adding a cap, which would prevent new students from going to their assigned schools if it was full and instead move them to the next available school with openings. District staff has considered a similar idea, which would provide families with the choice of what school their child attends and be handled through the transfer office, though this would be different than a transfer because transportation would be provided.

For example, if the two feeder schools to Johnson High School are McCormick and Dahlstrom middle schools, parents would get to decide if they would rather attend Dahlstrom, in an attempt to alleviate overcrowding, while keeping students at the same high school. This program, if implemented, would also apply to Simon and Chapa middle schools.

Discussion

Trustee Esperanza Orsoco began by questioning Science Hall Elementary School and Uhland, as numbers in the map display that Uhland is projected to almost double its numbers to 1,647 in the year 2033, while Science Hall is estimated to only grow by 87 students in 2033.

“What can we do to alleviate that huge growth in Uhland, especially knowing that it is one of our lowest socioeconomic schools that needs extra support,” asked Orozco.

According to Savoy, the only suggestion for the attendance zones has been to move a nearby subdivision to Science Hall from Uhland, if there is an expansion to the school on a future bond, as it is relatively small.

When looking at the elementary school planning units, Orosco requested unit 89, which includes Destiny Drive, Shady Oaks and more, to be moved from Uhland to Science Hall to add an estimated 100 students. With no objections, Savoy stated that he would look at making the transfer.

In regard to unit 87, trustee Johnny Flores relayed questions from residents that stated Ramage should be the school their children went to, as it is two miles away as opposed to the assigned Fuentes, which is more than three miles away.

Savoy stated that unit 87 has 270 students, so if it is added to Ramage, it brings the starting number to 870 students compared to the original 600: “It immediately puts Ramage over and Ramage is going to be picking up a ton of kids out past [Highway] 21 and the Uhland area.”

“There have been lots of comments about just rezoning and ripping the band aid off and just doing it,” said Runkle. “There’s been a lot of conversation from [Facilities & Bond Oversight Committee (FBOC)] members as we build facilities and rezoning … I’d like to know what their thoughts are on rezoning because I’ve heard that they’ve got a lot of thoughts about it, so I would like to see what the consensus is.”

According to the chief communication officer, he has spoken to FBOC Chair Person Jessica Bedwell, who states that the committee is looking at zones up to 10 years in advance to determine where facilities might be needed and not the short-term decisions, which is what trustees needed to determine at this meeting. In response to “ripping off the band aid,” he noted that if a fourth high school was built, it would have to be redone, again.

“It’s tough and it’s not easy and I know it’s very hard because we ask our parents to get connected to the school, to become involved in the school and they do. They endear themselves to the teachers and the teachers, they build a team and then, you’ve got to come in and split all that up with the fast growth. So, it is a growing pain, but the reason I say it’s a good problem to have, though, is because the opposite is just as painful,” concluded Savoy.

Hays CISD community members can attend a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at the Hays CISD Academic Support Center, located at 21003 IH-35, Kyle, at which time they are invited to provide feedback on the updated map five.

After additional feedback, the item will come in front of the board for a final vote.

To find information on the attendance zones, visit www.hayscisd.net/zone2024.