District to provide details, gather feedback on various proposals under consideration

Six community meetings are being held to provide HISD parents with more information about a series of proposals designed to right-size classrooms at certain elementary schools beginning with the 2015–2016 school year. Meetings are scheduled for 6 – 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and Thursday, Feb. 19, at area schools. See below for a list of schools being affected and meeting locations. The district would like to gather feedback from parents before the Board of Education votes on the proposal in March.

For the current school year, HISD submitted nearly 1,500 class-size waivers to the Texas Education Agency, which requires no more than 22 students per classroom in all kindergarten through fourth-grade classes. District officials aim to cut that number in half next year and plan to continue to decrease the number incrementally through 2019.

Additional factors include housing development, shifting birth rates, and demographic changes in neighborhoods around the district.

Options under consideration range from readjusting attendance boundaries and program enhancements to limiting the number of students each school may accept from outside its own neighborhood. The district’s goal is to alleviate overcrowding while still maintaining the traditional demographic makeup of each affected school. The following meetings are planned:

6 – 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17

• Briar Forest Community Meeting – Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest, 77042
  Affected elementary schools: Ashford, Askew, Bush, Daily, Emerson, Shadowbriar, and Walnut Bend

• Northwest Area Community Meeting – Waltrip High School, 1900 West 34^th St., 77018
  Affected elementary schools: Crockett, Highland Heights, Love, Memorial, Sinclair, Smith, and Stevens

• 288 Corridor Community Meeting – Attucks Middle School, 4330 Bellfort, 77051
  Affected elementary schools: Bastian, Kelso, and Young

6 – 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19

• Medical Center Area Community Meeting – Pershing Middle School, 3838 Blue Bonnet Blvd., 77025
  Affected elementary schools: The Rice School, Roberts, Twain, and West University (*see note below)

• Northline Area Community Meeting – Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, 9400 Irvington Blvd, 77076
  Affected elementary schools: Burbank, Lyons, and Northline

• Tinsley and Halpin Area Community Meeting – Tinsley Elementary School, 11035 Bob White Dr., 77096
  Affected elementary schools: Anderson, Halpin ECC, and Tinsley

District officials are also considering ways to improve internal practices such as the process to request class-size waivers, eliminating waivers for district charter schools, and limiting the number of transfer students that schools may accept from outside their attendance boundaries.

*Note to parents of students at The Rice School, Roberts, Twain, and West University: Attendance boundaries will not be changed for these schools.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions, please click here (.pdf). (en Español)

For a list of proposed attendance boundary maps, please click here.