Don't Punt, PLAN for Our Future

Dear Dr. Dupre and Respected Board of Trustees:

We appreciate the difficult job that you have in moving forward to enact a new zoning plan to meet our district’s fast growth. We fully recognize that it is impossible to please everyone who will be affected by the changes. In this regard, we support the district’s guidelines given to DeJONG-RICHTER to develop a long term plan that would allow for any changes to be clearly understood. We believe the overwhelming bond vote on November 4 demonstrates the faith of the district as a whole that Plan A represents the blueprint for accomplishing the district’s long-term planning goals.

As you and the board of trustees consider the two plans that were presented on November 17th, we implore you to recognize that Plan B does not meet the guidelines set forth by the District’s policies and thus should not be implemented.

WE, THE CITIZENS OF FBISD ASK THAT THE BOARD:

1. Allow for future growth. To accommodate for future growth within available resources, as cited by the District’s website, Plan A balances utilization and expected growth by positioning all the neighborhoods toward the under-utilized high schools, eliminating the need to build a new high school in the western area of the district. Plan B goes against this policy, creating a need for another high school in the west which will increase infrastructure cost by more than $100M.
2. Keep distances traveled by students as short as possible. Given that Telfair is only 3 miles to Clements HS, compared to 6 miles to Austin HS, Plan A will greatly reduce the time and expense, and increase the safety of student transportation. In plan B, Old Orchard will be moved out of its the current neighborhood schools to make room for Telfair at Austin High, even though its current middle and high schools are literally right down the street, walkable from Old Orchard.
3. Maintain the neighborhood concept. Plan B goes against this concept; for example, Telfair will be split between Austin HS and Clements HS and Riverstone will be split between Elkins HS and Clements HS. On the other hand, Plan A matches this concept by allowing all of Telfair to attend Clements HS and all of Riverstone to attend Elkins HS.
4. Establish well-aligned feeder patterns and boundaries that are able to remain unchanged over an extended period of time. According to DeJONG-RICHTER, Plan B only meets the district’s needs for 3 years, forcing the District to re-examine the zoning issue again in a few years. Plan A, on the other hand, provides stability for the whole district for at least 8-10 years.
5. Create logical and natural zoning boundaries. Plan A creates natural boundaries based on neighborhood integration while Plan B creates disparate and incongruent areas that complicate logistics such as transportation and feeder patterns, in addition to creating conflicting neighborhood demands. We want to reduce the implication of gerrymandering.

Plan A is derived from professional analysis based on actual data; Plan B arises from significantly vocal “community feedback”. We do not believe plan B represents the will of the district as a whole and strays from taking a fair and logical rezoning approach. It is understandable that community involvement is a critical part of the process to provide the best educational environment for every student, nevertheless, major decisions impacting the whole district should be based on objective information and should adhere to FBISD policies.

We truly appreciate the tremendous amount of effort Dr. Dupre and all board members have made toward the development of the whole district. It is not our position or intent to place the needs of one neighborhood over another. We only want the process to be fair and objective and provide a clear and sound solution, according to the principles established by the Board. As Plan A aligns optimally with the district’s policies, we strongly urge Dr. Dupre and the Board of Trustees to adopt Plan A to meet the needs of our district for both short-term and long-term benefits.

Best Regards,
Concerned FBISD Residents