EDUCATION BRIEFS
News from Tomball ISD
QUOTE OF NOTE
TISD dual language program to expand
Creekside-area parents push back at intermediate campus
20 school resource o cers planned for 2023 24
“IF THE LEGISLATURE ISN’T GOING TO INCREASE OUR FUNDING, ... IF THEY’RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT, THEN THAT’S GOING TO HURT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE, NOT JUST TOMBALL. ... IT’S A BANKRUPTING ACTION, THEM NOT TAKING ACTION ON FUNDING.” JIM ROSS, TOMBALL ISD CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Tomball ISD board of trustees will meet at 5:30 p.m. May 8-9 at 310 S. Cherry St., Tomball. 281-357-3100. www.tomballisd.net Magnolia ISD board of trustees will meet at 6:30 p.m. May 15 at 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia. 281-356-3571. www.magnoliaisd.org MEETINGS WE COVER
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
BY ANNA LOTZ
coverage and a visible presence by TPD and Precinct 4,” Gutierrez said in an April 6 statement. The contract with Precinct 4 goes through Harris County’s scal year ending Sept. 30, according to Gutierrez, and the amended contract to add 16 o cers came before county commissioners and was approved April 25. This would add 16 Precinct 4 o cers for August and September to start o the 2023-24 school year with a total of 20 SROs, he said. TISD is planning to start o the next contract year in October with 20 o cers from Precinct 4 as well, Gutierrez said. Still, TISD is continuing to explore the creation of its own police depart- ment, he said. “As we have expanded the number of SROs considerably over the last ve years, we are doing our due diligence of exploring the creation of an ISD police department, which will include potential costs and opera- tional implications,” Gutierrez said.
HUFSMITH KHORVILLE RD.
TOMBALL ISD Trustees approved amending Tomball ISD’s contract with Harris County on April 10 to add 16 more school resource o cers at the start of the upcoming 2023-24 school year, an increase from the four o cers the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s O ce began providing March 20. This contract amendment follows the termination of the district’s previ- ous contract with the city of Tomball in March, as TISD and the city were unable to come to an agreement about expanding SRO services. However, the Tomball Police Department is continuing to provide 12 school resource o cers through the end of the 2022-23 school year, Community Impact reported. This totals 16 o cers serving the district, TISD Chief Operating O cer Steven Gutierrez said. “The addition of Precinct 4 depu- ties allowed us to redirect resources to ensure all campuses have daily
TOMBALL ISD Tomball ISD is planning to amend its slate of projects from its $494.46 million bond in 2021, replacing a proposed elementary school to relieve Creekside-area schools with an intermediate campus. A special board meeting was scheduled for May 2 on the topic, which was after press time April 26. This change would move fth grade students at Creekside Forest, Timber Creek and Creekview elementary schools as well as sixth grade students at Creekside Park Junior High to the new intermediate school in the 2025-26 school year, according to the district. Unlike other elementary schools in the district that serve grades K-4, the Creekside-area schools serve grades K-5 and feed into Creekside Park
2920
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
TOMBALL ISD Students enrolled in Tomball ISD’s Two-Way Dual Language program at Rosehill Ele- mentary will be able to continue the program as they advance to middle school. On April 11, the board approved extending it to Tomball Intermediate School in 2024-25. “The program has been suc- cessful; it’s been well sought out, and so we’re just continuing [it],” Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said. Started in the 2019-20 school year, the dual language program teaches students math, language arts, science and social studies in English and Spanish, Community Impact previously reported. There are 352 students enrolled in the program with 200 students on the waitlist, according to TISD, and 558 students have applied over the last ve years.
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Harris County Precinct 4 o cers joined Tomball ISD in March. (Courtesy Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s O ce)
Board President Lee McLeod addresses over 100 Creekside-area community members at an April 17 town hall. (Lizzy Spangler/Community Impact)
A NEW PARTNERSHIP After its contract with the city of Tomball was terminated in March, Tomball ISD has partnered with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s O ce for school resource o cers. The district anticipates beginning the 2023-24 school year with 20 o cers from Precinct 4 among its campuses.
Trustee Justin Unser said. The bond language does not prevent the district from making this change, Chief Financial O cer Jim Ross said. “The primary point of bond 2021 is to provide enrollment relief out here in these [Creekside-area] campuses,” Chief Operating O cer Steven Gutierrez said. “We’d be doing you a disservice to build a new [elementary] building that would be underutilized and not provide you the relief that we promised.”
“It’ll be 20 minutes or more on a road that’s not prepared for the in ux of tra c,” Creekside parent Kira Becker said. “That’s pretty dangerous.” Board President Lee McLeod said during an April 17 town hall that TISD has looked for land for an intermediate school in Creekside for years to no avail. “This was designed to be commu- nity schools; people can walk and bike, and that’s how people bought their home, including myself,”
16 more deputies in August 4 deputies with Precinct 4
Junior High for sixth grade. The school site is planned for the corner of FM 2920 and Hufsmith-Kohrville Road.
SOURCE: TOMBALL ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
TOMBALL PARKWAY 28595 Tomball Pkwy (281) 290-7810
THE WOODLANDS 10491 Kuykendahl (281) 681-9110
SPRING STUEBNER 6603 Spring Stuebner Rd (281) 288-0239
GOSLING ROAD SPRING 24527 Gosling Rd (281) 516-9404
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