An alternative draft map created by Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright Monday is a third option leaders will ponder as they solidify high school attendance boundaries
The map was presented Nov. 12 with the intent to minimize overpopulation and the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged students at several campuses throughout the district, including at Lehman High.
Hays CISD trustees will consider adopting a map at the Nov. 26 meeting, giving them the opportunity to review all three maps through the Thanksgiving break. Click here to view draft map options.
Map 2-A, created by the superintendent, will join map 3 and 6 as recommended to the board by the rezoning committee. The latter two maps had been recommended by the district’s rezoning committee to the board earlier this month.
Hays CISD trustees will consider adopting a map at the Nov. 26 meeting, giving them the opportunity to review all three maps through the Thanksgiving break.
Wright said the creation of the new map came in light of studying and observing the discussions by the community, board and rezoning commission. Map 2-A draws influence from the concerns of overcrowding at middle and high schools throughout the district.
“I think 2-A is the map that hits most of the board priorities and matches their policy,” Wright said. “Socioeconomic diversity wasn’t one of those factors and I think that was something none of the other maps really addressed because of the population density in the Lehman attendance zone, but we’re going to have to figure that out internally.”
Before the superintendent’s recommendation, Brett Pennington, a 1996 Hays graduate and member of the rezoning committee, called for the board to look at Draft Map 2, which he believed prevents overcrowding, compared to Draft Map 6.
“When you look at the map and make a decision, it needs to be 100 percent Hays CISD,” Pennington said. “Not 100 percent Hays High School, or 100 percent Lehman or 100 percent Johnson. Every map has a middle school overcrowded within the next two years.”
Despite those issues, Pennigton said Draft Map 2 did the best job at addressing overcrowding at the schools.
Under Draft Map 2-A, Lehman High and Simon Middle School would be the last two schools to reach its building capacities.
The decision to keep these schools under capacity for an extended period of time was drawn after data concluded that Lehman and Simon have the highest population of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the district.
“The plan was to make sure (Lehman and Simon) had the smallest numbers throughout the years so we can give them the support those students need,” Wright said. “That includes additional resources for the students and more staffing.”
According to the districts map 2-A projection, Lehman and Simon will not reach capacity until 2027 and 2026 respectively.
According to Draft Map 2-A, Lehman will have an economically disadvantaged (ED) population of 64.8 percent, the highest in the district. Map three and six lists Lehman at 61.8 percent ED respectively.
“The overwhelming response was to keep the middle schools intact and by doing so it elevated that ED population somewhat,” Wright said. “The overall capacity will be less at those high ED campuses, so we can support those campuses with additional resources.”
Looking at all the recommended maps, Secretary Vanessa Petrea said she was most concerned with the overcrowding of the middle schools and is in favor of proximity when addressing how to rezone the schools.
In regard to the new freshman class starting at Johnson, Petrea said these group of students will have the opportunity to start a new culture at the high school.
“This group of freshman will be able to create traditions and be leaders at Johnson,” Petrea said. “Parents, I know your freshman might be sad but we need your help encouraging them so this can be the best transition it can be.”
The HCISD board of trustees will have two weeks to review all three maps before the next scheduled meeting on Nov. 26.
