KYLE — The final attendance zone map recommendation regarding the 2025-26 school year and future opening of Ramage Elementary School was presented to the Hays CISD Board of Trustees at its Nov. 18 meeting, as well as details on a potential May 2025 bond.
“The recommendation achieves creating a zone for Ramage Elementary and it does it by pulling from the three neighboring schools to carve out that area and then, we backfill some of those other schools,” said chief communication officer Tim Savoy.
The following planning units have been added to Ramage: Units 69, 70, 71 and 72 from Hemphill Elementary School; units 79 and 87 from Fuentes Elementary School; and units 66 and 140 from Uhland Elementary School.
Units 98 and 139 from Uhland will be transferred to Science Hall Elementary School and 89 from Uhland will go to Fuentes, while units 63 and 64 will be moved from Camino Real Elementary School to Uhland: “One of the hidden gems in here is we’ve really helped Uhland. We’re going to keep them from busting at the seams for a couple of years with this map,” said Savoy.
Because these transfers to Science Hall could prove to provide strain on the school, the recommendation also suggests moving the 119 bilingual Pfluger Elementary School students attending Science Hall to Tom Green Elementary School instead.
“There’s a relief school, if you will, for Sunfield [Elementary School] and also one that I think will help Camino Real that is being proposed to go into the 2025 bond, so our recommendation would be to not do anything with that this fall,” Savoy said, adding that, with the new school, if approved, being in the Northeast corner of the district.
Savoy also noted that there is a “minor middle school realignment,” due to students being moved from Uhland to Science Hall.
So, they also added planning units 98 and 139 to go to Chapa Middle School with the other Science Hall students, as opposed to Simon Middle School.
Though, students and siblings that are affected have the option to not get moved out, per “traditional” caveat, said Savoy, but transportation options to the former schools would not be provided by the district.
According to Savoy, there is still the issue of McCormick Middle School’s population, but it is hoped to be addressed through the Hays Choice Transfer Program, which would allow families that are interested in moving to Dahlstrom or Chapa middle schools — approximately 89 students — next year the opportunity to move and could include transportation options.
The reason staff does not want to adjust middle school and high school zoning is because one of the items in the proposed May 2025 bond is a fourth comprehensive high school and possibly a seventh middle school, which would cause a massive rezone of the district and the district wants to avoid moving children multiple times.
Trustee Courtney Runkle stated that she understands the need for not wanting to move children around multiple times, but that the majority of the feedback from the community discussed McCormick and its overcrowding. A letter from a teacher stated that they have 176 students and are “unable to track data, build meaningful relationships, keep up with grading, conference with all the students, pull small groups or keep track of accommodations with the amount of students I have.”
“If we can’t do something about the facility space today, we have to do something about how we are engaging with our students, how we are supporting our teachers and what that looks like from an educational standpoint in the classroom,” stressed Runkle. “I support the map. I’m happy with this map. I think the map is great.
I’m just very, very concerned about McCormick and what that looks like in the educational environment of a classroom for students.”
In regards to informing families about whether they have been rezoned, Savoy stated that, “We’ll tell all the families that it has changed. I will update our interactive zone map on the web and then, we’ll email and get the campuses to communicate [that there have been changes]. The fun part is that the kids that have been zoned now to Ramage will then start getting emails about mascot selection, color selection and those things.”
Those who want to stay at their current schools can put in a transfer request and will be “grandfathered in,” Savoy explained.
This is the final discussion of the map, but the trustees will not vote until December. In the meantime, residents can still provide feedback online. For more information on the attendance zone map and give feedback, visit www.hayscisd.net/zone2024. To view planning unit numbers, visit bit. ly/494MBPl.
After, chief operations officer Max Cleaver and Facilities and Bond Oversight Committee (FBOC) chair Jessica Jedwell presented potential recommendations for a May 2025 bond. According to Cleaver, in April 2024, the trustees tasked the FBOC to develop a potential bond program. So, after evaluating various needs within the district, the committee is presenting an $885 million bond for the May 2025 election, which would require trustees to call the bond prior to mid-February.
The following items were noted as potential options in the nearly $900 million bond:
• Elementary #18 design and construction
• Kyle Elementary School modernization and expansion
• Tom Green Elementary School modernization and expansion
• Fuentes Elementary School modernization and expansion
• Hemphill Elementary School modernization and expansion
• Middle school #7 design
• Simon Middle School expansion
• McCormick Middle School turf/ weightroom/locker expansion
• Wallace Middle School expansion
• High school #4 design balance and construction
• Hays High School academic expansion, with dining, all purpose indoor space
• Johnson High School parking, connector road and weight room
• Fine arts cycle replacements
• Athletic cycle replacements
• Career and Technical Education improvements and replacement cycles
• CTE firefighter program fire tower On a district level, there are $118,500,000 worth of recommendations, including $54,000,000 for land purchase.
Throughout the presentation, there were several items that the committee noted needed to be worked on, but could wait for a future date: the design and construction of Elementary #19; design of Elementary #20; Science Hall, Camino Real, Pfluger elementary schools expansion design and construction; Blanco Vista, Carpenter Hill and Pfluger expansion designs; Barton and Chapa middle school expansions; Middle School #7 construction; Dahlstrom Middle School improvements; McCormick Middle School remaining expansion; Lehman High School academic expansion, with dining, weight room and concession and all purpose indoor space; MPACs (construction only); and stadium design fees.
The board also voted unanimously to approve for further consideration the FBOC’s recommendation regarding a potential May 2025 bond election.
To listen to both discussions, visit bit. ly/4947IBq.
