Feeder Pattern and Attendance Boundary Planning

The FBISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt a comprehensive District-wide Feeder Pattern and Boundary Plan during a regularly scheduled meeting on January 26, 2015. The FBISD administration developed the plan to balance enrollment and ease overcrowding in the fast-growing District, which is expected to gain an additional 6,500 students over the next five years and 11,640 students by 2025.

Due to growth in the northern and western regions of the District, the plan adopted will shift high school enrollment toward the south and east. In addition to better aligning high school feeder patterns, the boundary changes approved also create new attendance zones for Elementary Schools 46 and 47, which are scheduled to open in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

The Board's action comes two years after the FBISD Board of Trustees began an aggressive effort to plan for the District’s future, beginning with a Jacobs Engineering study that assessed the condition and capacity of all FBISD facilities. The Board approved a Facilities Master Plan in April of 2014, and then created policy in August to guide the establishment of attendance boundaries.

Assisted by a nationally-recognized educational facility planning firm, DeJONG-RICHTER, FBISD spent the fall of 2014 engaging with the community and taking public feedback into consideration, while also adhering to board policy and relying on enrollment projections in the decision-making process.

Changes approved will go into effect during the 2015-2016 school year for students in elementary and middle schools, and additional boundary changes will take effect with the opening of Elementary School 47 in 2016. A resolution passed by the Board will allow most students entering grades five and eight to stay at their current campuses if they choose, though they will not be eligible for transportation.

Students entering grades 10, 11, and 12 will remain at their current campuses until they graduate. Students who are entering grade nine and have older siblings in grades 10-12 will be able to attend the same school as their sibling, with transportation provided until their older sibling graduates.

Academic Programs

The FBISD administration considered only live-in enrollment and enrollment projections in the zoning process, excluding academic programs that are housed at five of the District’s high schools. Beginning in 2015-2016, two high school academies, the Global Studies Academy, currently at Clements High School, and the International Business and Marketing Academy, currently at Bush High School, will be relocated to Travis High School, which has more space to house the academic programs. Academy students entering grades 10-12 will complete their programs at their current campuses, while incoming ninth-graders will begin their academy studies at Travis High School.

The FBISD administration initially recommended moving the Engineering Academy from Elkins High School to Dulles High School, but after reconsidering enrollment projections, the Board amended the plan to keep the program at Elkins High School.

They also amended the plan to consolidate the entire Woodstream neighborhood in First Colony to attend Colony Meadows Elementary School and Fort Settlement Middle School.

 

With the implementation and requirements of House Bill 5, the District is focused on providing clear pathways/endorsements for all students entering high school.