The Katy School District is quickly growing. It has been building up over the past few years and has caused some school to overflow. Some Katy schools have been identified as being over capacity. To remedy this, three new schools are going to be opened in the following school year; one high school, Peatow, one junior high, Stockdick, and one elementary school, Bryant.
“My role is to ensure that Attendance Boundary Modifications (also known as ABMs) sufficiently balance campus enrollment and provide relief to schools which are overcrowded. This helps to ensure that students will continue to have equitable access to the same high quality instruction and programs, regardless of the campus they attend,” said superintendent, Lance Hindt.
The district will distribute the rapidly expanding population into the new schools. The schools’ zoning districts that are going to be affected are Katy Elementary, Wolman Elementary, Katy Junior High, McDonald Junior High, Katy High School and Morton Ranch High School.
“The goal is to balance enrollment and provide relief to campuses that are considered overcrowded due to the fast growth in Katy,” said Hindt.
This last year alone, over 2,500 students were newly introduced into the district. Although some schools, like Beckendorff, have been projected to have a reduced student population as soon as next year, many are seen to have extreme overcrowding. Katy High School would be 800 students over their original max capacity.
“Students and families impacted by this ABM will have access to the same high quality level of instruction, teachers and resources, brand new state-of-the-art facilities, and the same extracurricular activities,” said Hindt.
On average, Katy ISD has a growth rate of 3.7 percent or 2,600 students per year. This makes it the second fastest growing district in Texas, behind Frisco ISD. Cross Creek alone has had 256 new homes occupied this fall, with another 1,250 homes to be added.
“Katy ISD administration works closely with a demographer who provides a detailed report on the growth trends of our community. Based on this demographic update, ABM recommendations are then crafted. The feedback we receive from our parents and community is extremely important to us. This is why we opened up an ABM survey to the public,” said Hindt.
Katy ISD takes polls in order to decide what to do with expansion. When asked about the new Paetow High School, 60 percent of Katy High School parents favored it and 68 percent of Morton Ranch High School Parents showed support, with 63 percent of all parents taking the poll expressing support for the new school.
“We’re all one big family in Katy ISD and no matter where our students attend school, our staff is fully devoted to their success and will receive each one of them with open arms,” said Hindt.
