Frisco ISD Proposes New Boundary Maps
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FRISCO (CBSDFW.COM) - Big changes are coming to one of the country's fastest growing communities, and they will have an impact on thousands of Collin County students and their families. Those children are learning that they will not be going to the same schools next year.
The Frisco Independent School District unveiled proposed zoning changes on Monday night, adjusting the boundary maps for the district. The move impacts which students attend which schools, and has a large impact on 16 campuses.
For example, the new Lebanon Trails High School will open next year with just a freshman class. That could split up siblings, sending high schoolers to different school buildings.
See The Proposed Frisco ISD Attendance Zone Changes
The school district includes approximately 53,000 students -- the entire population of Euless -- and it continues to face major growth. They have built 60 new schools over the last 20 years and, on average, more than 3,000 students join the district each year.
These proposed changes will help ease overcrowding and make better use of schools that are being under-utilized.
But the changes are not just about numbers and the city's booming population. The school district has long-term plans to keep their campuses small, giving them a neighborhood feel that offers students more individual attention. The zoning changes are designed to protect that community atmosphere.
"Transition is part of life and so be it," said parent Chin Tong. "As long as they let everybody know ahead of time."
However, keeping everybody in the district happy is no easy task for administrators. "They love where they are going and they love the friends that they go to school with, so we certainly try to move the neighborhoods and subdivisions together where we can," said Frisco ISD deputy superintendent Richard Wilkinson. "It's an ongoing challenge."
Reaction to the zoning changes has been mixed. Parents have until November 9 to let the district know what they think. Final decisions will be made in December.
"We've gotten accustomed to the teachers here and started to have ties with classmates, families and the staff," parent Lauren Bricker said. "If we keep switching to a new school, it is hard to keep that relationship."
Addison Stingley attends first grade at Comstock Elementary School. "It would be a little upsetting to have some of her friends leave if they had to," said mother Angie Stingley. "I know one of her friends is kind of in that area -- it's one of her best friends, and she'd be pretty upset if she had to go to another school."