Rezoning process begins for new Klein high school
The Klein Independent School District has started the process of rezoning high school students in anticipation of the district’s fifth high school opening in August 2017.
The Klein Independent School District has started the process of rezoning high school students in anticipation of the district’s fifth high school opening in August 2017.
Under two proposals, all current zones for high school students are impacted to some degree, said Klein ISD Superintendent Jim Cain. The district cannot create a new zone for the school without affecting the existing ones, he said. Zoning options
In the first option, students from Klein Oak High School and Klein High School would be rezoned to create the zone for the fifth high school. Some students from Klein Collins High School and Klein Forest High School then would be rezoned for Klein High School.
This option would alleviate overcrowding at the existing schools, although the district projects Klein Oak High School still would be above capacity and the number of students would continue to increase each year, said Judy Rimato, Klein ISD associate superintendent for communications and planning.
“We can handle a school being over capacity until it reaches about 120 percent,” Rimato said. “When we start seeing that red, it tells us we need to have a new school open that year or maybe even the year before.”
This option would mean the district would need to build its sixth high school sooner and have it open to students in 2023 to solve the issue. The proposed sixth high school, which is expected to be the final high school for the district, will be located near FM 2920 and Mahaffey Road.
“It’s important that we look out over a 10 year period because it takes a while to build a high school,” Rimato said. “A high school takes at least two years to build and another year before that to design, so we would want to start the process for this high school in about 2019 or 2020.”
Rimato said the goal of the new zoning option is to get the student populations at Klein Forest High School and Klein Collins High School as stable as possible. This would be done so that minimal changes would be made to those zones when the sixth high school is built, she said.
The second option geographically is similar to the first, although students who live in the Reserve at Inverness, Waldenwood I and II, Inverness, Boudreaux Garden, Willow Glen and Sugarberry Place areas would be rezoned from Klein Oak High School to the fifth high school. Exceptions to rezoning
When the fifth high school opens in 2017, only freshman and sophomore students will attend that year. Students who are sophomores and juniors at the end of the 2016-17 school year will remain at their current high schools.
Additionally, if a ninthgrade student during the 2016-17 school year earns a varsity letter in any athletic program, music program or other approved nonathletic event, he or she could be granted the option to remain at his or her current high school.
This exception also could apply to ninth grade students who have been members of the drill team in good standing for the entire school year and qualified for the next year, as well as those who were named officers for the following year in a recognized Klein ISD club or organization.
“It’s a very liberal policy, and kids who are really active in school have lots of different ways that they can stay at that school if they started out in ninth grade and met any of these criteria,” Rimato said.
However, Rimato said she does not expect a large number of students to be exceptions to the rezoning when the fifth high school opens. Zoning timeline
There will be a zoning report at the December meeting for the board of trustees, and the report will be available on the district website the following day for community comments. The district then will present a final option to the board of trustees in February.
The board may approve the new zoning option as the district presents it, Cain said, or the members can vote to amend certain aspects of the zoning. Additionally, the board could reject the option entirely.
When the zoning option is approved, parents and students will be notified through various means, including social media, email and through information on the website.
For more information regarding the rezoning of high schools in Klein ISD, visit www.kleinisd.net.