Fort Bend Independent School District is planning to redraw some of its school boundaries as part of what district officials describe as an effort to balance enrollment and plan for future growth.
Changes like these are not tied to any particular schedule, but Matthew McCormick with the Texas Public Policy Foundation says they are not unheard of. “Factors like enrollment and the finances of the school district will play a huge role,” he explained. “Fort Bend appears to be deciding that they need to make a change.”
Unfortunately, the proposal is affecting parents and property owners in Fort Bend ISD—and many of them are not happy about it. “Even if you just shuffle a couple of schools around, that’s going to cause a shockwave,” McCormick said. “Hundreds of kids go to these schools, and they’re now being told they’re going to a different school.”
He pointed out that the changes could even affect the value of some homes in the district, because home buyers often shop specifically based on which school their children would be assigned to.
McCormick says issues like these are just one of the many reasons school choice has become so popular in Texas. “We have an education system where parents who can afford it pay premium dollars to get access to better educational opportunities for their students,” he said. “We don’t think a student’s educational future should be tied to their zip code or their parents’ success.”