The Richardson ISD published answers Friday to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about proposed construction of new classrooms at elementary schools in Lake Highlands. Judging by the wording, I’d say RISD administrators and trustees have been reading your comments, questions and frustrations voiced here on the blog.
You can find the full public statement here. Here’s my summary:
Enrollment has been growing in RISD – especially in Lake Highlands – over the past 5 years and is projected to continue for the next 5-10. New classrooms have been completed at 4 LH elementaries (Aikin, Stults, Forest Lane and Skyview), will begin soon at Forest Meadow Jr. High, and are being proposed for 2014 completion at three LH elementaries: White Rock, Wallace and Merriman Park.
The need is great. Students are currently being overflowed from their home campuses (sent to other schools), and some special student academic activities are being conducted in repurposed spaces, like bookrooms, teachers’ lounges and cafetorium stages.
All Lake Highlands-area elementary and junior high schools are operating at or near capacity. RISD has made an effort not to use waivers (permission to go over 22 kids in K-4 classrooms, 28 in 5-6), but still has 9 schools using waivers due to overcrowding. Six of the 9 are in LH.
No decision regarding construction of new classrooms at WRE, MPE and Wallace has been made (RISD trustees have previously said they will decide Oct. 30).
Ideally, every RISD school would have enough capacity for every child living in that neighborhood. Adding more capacity at more schools would reduce the number of overflowed students. RISD is not creating capacity at one school to handle overflow problems at another.
At schools where overflow does exist, to reduce the likelihood that your child will be overflowed, parents are advised to return pre-enrollment documents in the spring. If a school is full, students who enroll on the first day of school are overflowed – first come, first served.
You can read the report of Templeton Demographics here, indicating projected residential activity and student enrollment.
If additional classrooms are built, the district will also evaluate the capacity of common areas, such as restrooms, hallways, cafeterias and gyms.
Support staffing is formulaic, based on teaching allocations and enrollment numbers. If the number of classes increases, the number of specials classes also increases (PE, music and art).
If classrooms are added, the proposed ready date is August 2014. Construction would be done afterschool, summer and weekends when possible to avoid class disruption.
Alternatives to adding on to WRE, MPE and Wallace:
Move 6th graders to junior high? Junior highs are full and teacher salaries would increase.
Build a separate 5th/6th campus? A bond program would be necessary, bringing expense for the district and transportation issues for parents with kids on multiple campuses.
Build a new elementary? RISD owns no appropriate property, the cost is high and boundary changes would be unpopular.
Change existing boundaries? This would require significant shuffling of the deck all around RISD to find the few campuses with additional capacity.
Construction would be funded using surplus operating funds which the district has put aside into a capital account. No tax increase would be needed. Construction costs are not yet known.
If classrooms are added, a traffic study will be done during permiting and zoning. Although adding classrooms will add traffic, overflow adds it too, because parents bring their child to their neighborhood school to take a bus to their overflow school.
Six classrooms are being proposed at each elementary, and they are expected to meet projected growth.
Moving central programs, such as special education, out of the schools in question is unlikely to solve the problem. First, space is limited. Second, each LH elementary school houses some type of central programming, though the space used varies. Also, stability of location is a factor for special needs students.
Transfers cannot be eliminated for one campus and not for others. State law gives parents the right to request a transfer, subject to the district’s guidelines. Transfers are typically not granted when the receiving school is at or above 90% capacity at a grade level; this preserves spots for students residing in/moving into the neighborhood.
Deciding the max best size for an elementary school isn’t easy. RISD schools vary from 300 to 900+.
Elementary schools in RISD weren’t built to support the weight of a second story, so building upward to preserve green space isn’t possible without razing the current building.
Parents will be involved if new construction moves forward. Architects were engaged after the initial round of info meetings to develop possible plans to bring to parents.
Hallways will not be widened (they already meet code), but schedules can be adjusted to ensure passing space is adequate.
See also charts: Cafeteria size (by school, in square foot). Enrollment (by school) over the last 10 years. How many students have been overflowed out of each LH elementary school? How many overflowed in?
RISD reps will share more at parents meetings Monday, Oct. 21 at 6pm at WRE and Wed. Oct. 23 at MPE. The board of trustees is set to vote Oct. 30.
