Dripping Springs ISD Announces New Attendance Zones

Staff

At a special meeting on Monday, the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees unanimously (7-0) approved new elementary and middle school attendance zones that will go into effect in August of 2021. The zones incorporate the district’s new elementary school being constructed on Darden Hill Road: Cypress Springs Elementary.

The approved attendance zone configuration is a modification of previously presented options.

When Elementary “Option E” and Middle School “Option 1” were recommended to the board on March 22, trustees asked if the committee had reviewed all possible scenarios to avoid splitting elementary campuses based on community feedback.

The committee made three adjustments to create Elementary Option E-1 and Middle School Option 1-A; these modified versions were approved.

Benefits

The approved attendance zones accomplish several positive changes for DSISD families.

• Meets the most board-approved parameters of all options discussed
• Provides capacity relief for SSE and DSE
• Avoids splitting up any elementary school into two different middle schools
• Provides a closer elementary school and middle school location for many students
• Maintains all Sycamore Springs Elementary students matriculating to SSMS
• Avoids moving any student to a school that is farther away from the current assignment
• Creates fewer changes for students over time by avoiding multiple moves of students likely to be impacted when Elementary School 6 and Middle School 3 are built
• Maximizes the use of SSMS, which is geographically desirable for many students
• Avoids breaking up Sunset Canyon neighborhood by leaving PU35 at DSE
• Creates a plan for flexible building use in future years with extra space expected to be available in DSMS (shared collaborative classrooms) if needed by WSE and extra classroom space available in SSE if needed by SSMS  
• Minimizes the need for staffing changes
• Portable buildings are not be expected to be needed
• Aligns well with public input

Key Changes

As compared to the current district boundary map, the approved elementary attendance zones make several key changes, which are highlighted below. See attached map for a complete overview.

• Moves neighborhoods near Darden Hill Road to the new Cypress Springs Elementary
• Moves neighborhoods east of Nutty Brown Road (except for the Views of Belterra) to the new Cypress Springs Elementary
• Moves neighborhoods in Planning Unit 20A (Ledgestone, Heritage Oaks, Heritage West, Oak Run West, Polo Club) to Sycamore Springs Elementary and Sycamore Springs Middle School

The Process

The process to determine new attendance zones began in the fall as the Board of Trustees approved parameters and a timeline, and an administrative attendance zone committee formed.

The committee worked with the district’s demographer to develop starter options for boundaries. Community input was collected through a Thought Exchange, two Google surveys, and comments shared at three public forums.

After some adjustment to the starter options, three elementary attendance zone options and three middle school feeder patterns/attendance zones were posted for consideration, the committee recommended removing one of the middle school maps.

All options were analyzed, taking into account future enrollment projections. In all, five options were presented to the public. The modified elementary and middle school attendance zones that were approved incorporated key areas of community feedback.

Grandfathering

The board also approved a one-year plan to “grandfather” incoming fifth- and eighth-graders who are zoned to the new schools but would prefer to remain at their current campus for the 2021-22 school year.

To aid parents, siblings of grandfathered fifth- and eighth-grade students also will be given the option to remain at the same school as their sibling for one year.

District transportation will not be provided to grandfathered students.

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