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December public hearings to focus on attendance zones
BASTROP — Following a national trend away from dedicating schools after people, the Bastrop Independent School District board approved names for three new campuses based on local guidelines promoted by an advisory committee.
“We looked at more than 200 nominations for all three schools combined,” said Deputy Superintendent Kristi Lee. “The committee did show a clear preference for not naming a school after an individual, but instead focused their nominations on a neighborhood or a geographic characteristic where the schools were located.”
The board has sole authority for naming schools, but the committee sought public input before making its recommendations to trustees.
After the Nov. 12 nod from the board, Elementary School No. 9, which is in the Adelton Subdivision off FM 20, will become Adelton Elementary School. Middle School No. 3 in Bastrop will become Riverside Middle School. Middle School No. 4 in Cedar Creek will become Creekside Middle School.
The schools are under construction to match BISD’s exponential growth, which means there will be changes coming to attendance boundaries, officials said.
Multiple meetings with BISD leadership, campus officials and demographic consultants Zonda Education occurred in early fall to consider current and future attendance boundaries.
Lee said the goal was to create enrollment zones that are balanced in student population, minimize neighborhood disruption and factor transportation routes and needs.
The new boundaries take effect fall 2025.
Bob Templeton with Zonda Education spoke to the board about the demographic considerations and student attendance forecasts used to develop drafts of the new boundaries.
“The district has 31 actively building subdivisions, with nearly 4,200 lots available to build on. And within the district, there are 19 future subdivisions with over 21,600 lots in various stages of planning. Of these, groundwork is underway on more than 1,900 lots within 11 subdivisions. A lot of that will be delivered within the next three to five months,” Templeton said.
His company forecasts a steady increase of 3-4% in BISD school enrollment every year for the foreseeable future.
“This year’s total enrollment of 13,373 is a growth of almost 3%,” he said. “We do believe your enrollment will get to 16,200 students in five years and more than 19,300 in 10 years.”
Half of the district’s elementary schools are over capacity, but Templeton predicted the opening of the new elementary school next year would reduce that number “significantly” for several years.
The boundary-map presentation can be found at bisdtx.org/page/9791.
Two in-person town hall meetings will be held in December allowing residents to offer suggestions and ask questions:
• Dec. 9 at Bastrop Middle School, 725 Old Austin Highway in Bastrop, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Dec. 10 at Cedar Creek Middle School, 125 Voss Parkway in Cedar Creek, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
“We will have large maps available where the public can come and see the maps up close and personal. We will give them the boundary presentation, answer their questions and help them to feel comfortable with the new boundaries,” Lee said.
Staffers will seek approval of the new boundary plan from trustees in January after the public meetings.
