School zones: New boundaries will go into effect next fall when CCISD opens up two new schools. Photo by Heath Doman: Fotolia.A committee of volunteer advisers is proposing new school boundaries for the Clear Creek Independent School District that could affect over 3,100 students at all four high schools next year.
The proposed boundaries -- mostly aimed at filling a new high school and intermediate school in League City's Education Village [1] next year -- still face public hearings and require the school board's approval, but these changes won the approval of the School Boundary Advisory Committee [2] on Tuesday night:
• Students at the new Clear Falls High School will come from Seabrook Intermediate (which currently feeds Clear Lake High School) and from the new Bayside Intermediate.
• Students at the long overcrowded Clear Lake High School will come from Space Center and a portion of Clear Lake Intermediate.
• Stewart Elementary students will no longer go to League City Intermediate and then on to Clear Creek High School. Instead they'll go to Bayside Intermediate and then Clear Falls High School.
• Hyde Elementary students will still attend League City Intermediate but will no longer go on to Clear Creek High School. They'll go on to Clear Falls High School instead.
• Students from the newly opened Ralph Parr Elementary will still go to Victory Lakes Intermediate, but then they'll go on to Clear Creek High School instead of Clear Springs High School as they're zoned to do now. Note this means Victory Lakes students will split up in high school, with the ones east of I-45 going to Creek and the ones west of I-45 going to Springs.
• Students at Mossman Elementary School, which just opened in the Education Village this year, will go on to the village's Bayside Intermediate instead of Victory Lakes and then the village's Clear Falls High School intead of Clear Creek.
• Students at Whitcomb Elementary will continue to feed into Clear Lake Intermediate, but then they'll all go on to Clear Lake High School. Currently a handful of them end up at Clear Brook High School.
CCISD's practice in the past has been to have incoming juniors and seniors stay at their current high schools. All intermediate students have been included in the moves, but incoming 8th graders have been able to request waivers to stay at their current intermediate schools as long as they provide their own transportion. The School Boundary Advisory Committee is recommending that board continue that practice for all students affected by its proposed changes.
Still confused about where your child will end up next year? CCISD has posted proposed boundary maps online. Here are links to the eight schools whose borders would actually change:
• Clear Falls High School [3]
• Clear Lake High School [4]
• Clear Creek High School [5]
• Clear Springs High School [6]
• Clear Brook High School [7]
• Bayside Intermediate [8]
• League City Intermediate [9]
• Victory Lakes Intermediate [10]
After meeting quietly for the last six weeks, the 27-member School Boundary Advisory Committee must next gather input from parents, students and community members.
Dates have been set for four public hearings from 7 to 10 p.m.:
• Clear Brook High School: Tuesday, Dec. 8.
• Clear Springs High School: Thursday, Dec. 10.
• Clear Lake High School: Tuesday, Dec. 15.
• Clear Creek high School: Thursday, Dec. 17.
The committee plans to present its final recommendations to the CCISD school board on Jan. 11, and the board hopes to make a final decision on Jan. 25.
Although the proposed boundaries balance out CCISD's high school enrollments to 2,400-2,500 students each, one task the committee did not take on was trying to balance out the intermediate schools, which are growing increasingly lopsided. CCISD spokeswoman Elaina Polsen said intermediate schools facing overcrowding include Westbrook, Victory Lakes and Creekside, while Space Center is close to topping out as well, and League City will have only 600 students next year if the boundaries are approved. Polsen said those issues will have to be addressed closer to the time the Clear Lake Ninth Grade Center is converted into an Intermediate School, and the school board hopes to look into that in January.