The Woodlands Edition | December 2024

Education

BY ANGELA BONILLA

Conroe ISD trustees shared an update regarding the proposed rezoning process for two of the district’s new elementary schools at the board’s Nov. 19 meeting, and a nal presentation on the proposals could be brought before the board in January, ocials said. The schools are among the projects approved by voters in 2023 as part of a $1.9 billion bond package. Meeting highlights Assistant Superintendent of Operations Chris McCord discussed the process of rezoning and how overcrowding from some of the elementary schools in the district is aecting operational needs. Eissler Elementary School is scheduled to open in August at 14000 Old Conroe Road, Conroe. It will provide overcrowding relief for schools such as Bush, Deretchin and Buckalew elementary campuses within The Woodlands High School feeder zone, with capacity for 950 students, he said. It will preserve some capacity for future growth. Adjustments to several other boundaries in the feeders would also help alleviate overcrowding in several other elementary and intermediate schools, McCord said. McCord said a total of six elementary schools in The Woodlands High School feeder zone are overcapacity, and Buckalew, Powell and Galatas elementary schools have little to no room for additional portable classrooms even at current enrollment numbers. At Bush, there is no room either inside or outside of the school, which is at 110% capacity, McCord said. Mittie J. Campbell Elementary School is scheduled to open in August and located at 15895 Stonecrest Drive, Conroe. It will also provide overcrowding relief in the region to Suchma, Oak Ridge and San Jacinto elementary schools in the Oak Ridge and Caney Creek high school feeder zones, bringing capacity for 950 students as well as preserving some space for growth in future years, he said. “For the Caney Creek feeder, it specically [is] for San Jacinto, a small school at capacity of 750 students. What San Jacinto will have coming is all the growth from Artavia [community] and all the growth coming from Mavera [community],” Conroe ISD to decide rezoning in early 2025

Proposed Eissler Elementary School boundaries Bush Elementary School Deretchin Buckalew Elementary School

Eissler Elementary School

Elementary School

Current elementary zoning

Proposed boundaries*

Eissler Elementary School

CARRIAGE HILLS BLVD.

1488

Proposed Campbell Elementary School boundaries

Campbell Elementary School

Oak Ridge Elementary School

San Jacinto Elementary School

Suchma Elementary School

Current elementary zoning

Proposed boundaries

Campbell Elementary School

1314

1488

242

*ONE OF TWO PROPOSED SCENARIOS SHOWS PART OF THE BOUNDARY GOING TO DERETCHIN

SOURCE: CONROE ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

presented for Campbell, which shows it taking a portion of the Suchma and San Jacinto elementary school zones. The maps were made with community feedback on items such as: • Geographical location • Minimizing impact on families • Transportation patterns What’s next The committee will review zoning scenarios before presenting its proposals to the board likely in January. The board is responsible for the nal decision on the attendance boundaries.

McCord said. Work is underway on schedule on both campuses, McCord said. Some context The district established an Attendance

Boundary Committee to study student growth in the aected areas, and to make a recommendation for attendance boundaries. Through its website, the committee shows several possible rezoning scenarios with map proposals for both of the new schools. As of the Nov. 19 meeting, two scenarios were presented for Eissler, named Scenario 2.2.1 and Scenario 4.1. The main dierence between the proposed Eissler zones is whether a portion of it would be zoned to Deretchin Elementary School. One scenario is

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