Katy ISD Announces New Process for Establishing Attendance Boundaries 

(January 6, 2009) – Katy ISD officials announced today a new process for establishing attendance boundaries that places a greater emphasis on effective stewardship of tax dollars, staff accountability, objectivity, and lessening the probability of neighborhood conflicts.

The previous process of creating rezoning committees comprised of community members was designed to provide maximum public input. This process, however, put the burden of time consuming work and accountability for the recommendation on community members. After reviewing observations and recommendations from past rezoning committee participants, it was determined that a new process that utilized the talents of professional staff, while facilitating quality input from those impacted, was needed.

“Katy ISD continues to expand as communities are developed to the west; however, due to the tremendous amount of growth in the past ten years, the district is nearing build out in several areas,” said Alton Frailey, Katy ISD Superintendent. “Any time you make a change to an attendance boundary, there results a complex domino effect. The affects to multiple land use zones dictates that a committee encompassing all LUZs affected would prove to be ineffective due to the total size required in order to be effectively representative.”

Under the new process, staff members will review data and draft a recommendation and supporting rationale. The criteria that will be used in developing the recommendation will include school capacities; keeping land use zones intact when possible; five-year enrollment projections; stabilizing as many attendance zones as possible; balancing enrollment numbers between neighboring schools; and community input that meets established criteria.

The initial recommendation will be publicized and two public hearings will be held: one to gather initial feedback, and a second to share any changes that may be made after staff members consider qualifying input from the first public hearing. The recommendation will then be presented to the Katy ISD Board of Trustees for final review and approval.