The elementary schools on the west side are “bursting at the seams” while some schools in the east are at 40% to 50% capacity.
ALLEN, Texas — Allen ISD may have to make some tough decisions soon to manage enrollment throughout its district.
Presentations made to the Board of Trustees in May outlined enrollment forecasts and the process for adjusting elementary attendance boundaries. The adjustments could ultimately mean a couple elementary schools will be repurposed as other learning locations.
The district emailed a letter to parents on Friday afternoon about the alignment of attendance zones and the potential proposals a 70 member committee has brought forward.
“…[O]ur schools in the west are reaching capacity limits, while our eastern schools are generally experiencing declining enrollments,” read a small portion of the letter explaining the purpose for the changes.
“Breaking that to her is going to be rough,” said Joshua Barry who has two kids, one named Brooklyn who is a 3rd grader, in the district. Brooklyn goes to Rountree Elementary, which is just a couple blocks away from home. Her parents have not yet told her about proposals that could change where she goes next year.
Of the 18 elementary schools in Allen ISD, five have surpassed or are approaching functional capacity. They’re all on the growing west side. According to the district, some schools on the east side are only at 40 to 50% capacity. One proposal calls for realignments at all elementaries, another proposals calls for completely turning two elementaries, Rountree and nearby Anderson, into other instructional locations.
“That just blows my mind. They have such an amazing program for my son. He is autistic with special needs,” said Barry.
The district wants to remind the public that these are just proposals and nothing is definite. But the thought of children having to move to other schools naturally worries parents. The Barrys moved here 4 years ago and for a reason: “That’s why we moved to the neighborhood for the school,” he said.
The district says the goal is to impact the least number of students.
“In order to continue offering excellent educational programming to students and competitive benefits to employees, the District must create efficiencies.”
Two public meetings to discuss the topic are set for Oct. 6 and Nov. 2. The school board will then take a vote on the matter.
The following proposals are set to be discussed to address the changing landscape of attendance at the district:
• Realignment of attendance zones at all elementary campuses to alleviate functional capacity issues at several campuses, with an effort to move as few families as possible
• Repurpose Anderson Elementary into an Early Childhood Campus to accommodate the state-required transition to Full Day Prekindergarten
• Repurpose Rountree Elementary for future non-instructional programming needs
• Relocate the One-Way Dual Language program from Boyd Elementary to Chandler Elementary