Three schools overcrowded in Dripping Springs
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Three Dripping Springs ISD campuses are experiencing over-enrollment, causing the district to look at alternative ways to address the issue.
Because of rapid growth, the student enrollment at Dripping Springs Elementary School (DSES), Walnut Springs Elementary School (WSES) and Sycamore Springs Middle School (SSMS) is exceeding functional capacity. At the March 20 agenda review meeting, the DSISD Board of Trustees discussed the possibility of allowing transfers for the 2023-24 school year to the following campuses that have available capacity: Cypress Springs Elementary School (CSES), Rooster Springs Elementary School (RSES), Sycamore Springs Elementary School (SSES) and Dripping Spring Middle School (DSMS).
“It would be our campuses that would have portables next year, you would be able to apply out of those schools [to] our campuses without portables, keeping in mind that they have different capacity levels,” said Superintendent Dr. Holly Morris-Kuentz, who introduced the item. “It’s going to be based on availability. But if we have three teachers and that’s 22 to 1 in three classrooms at first grade and we have six seats, we will fill those six seats, but then we are not going to overfill and add more staffing to increase that.”
Morris-Kuentz said that it would be a temporary transfer that is done on a year-by-year basis and families would need to apply every year. She said it is a short-term solution.
“It’s going to be based on availability every year,” Morris-Kuentz explained. “It’s not guaranteed forever and it’s also not guaranteed for after we attendance [rezone]. If we are looking at opening a future campus or if we have the need to rezone next year because things don’t look like we have future campus options, then we would need to be rezoning anyways. At that point, when we would rezone, those students would revert to our policy and to their zoned school.”
Certain programs are only available at certain campuses, the superintendent added.
“If you have a family who has a bilingual student, that might not be a possibility. If you have a family in another special program in special education, that might not be a possibility. There are certain programs that are only available at [some] campuses,” Morris-Kuentz said. “Right now, our bilingual students all go to Dripping Springs Elementary, so we transfer them [there] and that is their campus because that is the only place that program is offered. There are some programs that we would be limited in.”
Trustee Barbara Stroud is concerned about being too general when it comes to which programs will not be offered at campuses.
“We have had discussions about some people complaining about, 'How come these programs or these opportunities are available at just one campus and not at the other campus?' We have gone to a lot of effort to try to not have that be the case,” Stroud said.
“But now we are making a general statement that there are special programs that are only available at certain campuses. I just wonder if we should be more specific in what we say.”
Morris-Kuentz said that she will work with district staff to nail down the specific programs and campuses.
While she is in favor of the elective transfers, trustee Stefani Reinold said that the district needs to be clear in its communication to families about the logistics and how many students will be accepted. “I would love to do this because it makes a lot of sense to naturally let the community decide [and] to be able to shuffle from overpopulated campuses to underpopulated campuses,” Reinold said. “But if what you are saying is that we are not really staffing to meet this philosophical demand, then I think we are philosophically anti-transfer still.”
Morris-Kuentz said that she can not give the number of seats that will open at campuses at this time because it’s based on the families that move into the community.
No action was taken on the item. The board will discuss this again at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 27, at the Central Office Board Room, located at 510 W. Mercer St. in Dripping Springs.
