FBISD Board Favors 4C Edited Zoning Plan Which Keeps All New Territory at Sartartia MS

FBISD FAVORS ZONING OPTION THAT KEEPS ALL NEW TERRITORY STUDENTS AT SARTARTIA MS
It was good news at an FBISD workshop last night for New Territory residents who have been lobbying the board for a new rezoning plan that would allow students on the west side of Hwy. 99 to stay at Sartartia rather than being bused to Middle School 14 on Harlem Road next year when it opens. Although they did not take a formal vote, the board agreed they were “in consensus” to adopt the 4C edited option that keeps all New Territory students at Sartartia Middle School. 4C Edited also keeps Telfair at Sartartia and zones Pecan Grove, Waterside Estates, Fieldstone, Waterview, Aliana, Chelsea Harbour and the apartments on FM 1464 to Middle School 14.
“Are we of the consensus that 4C edited is something we are all comfortable with?” asked Board President Sonal Buchar at the November 30 workshop. “Yes”, they all replied. Parents in the audience were surprised but pleased by the statement. “We are cautiously optimistic and think it’s a positive sign that the board has provided guidance to the administration to move forward with 4C edited. We need to keep the pressure up in a positive way,” commented Jon Sturgis who has been leading the New Territory effort in objecting to a previously presented option that divides the community by sending students on the west side of Hwy. 99 to Middle School 14.
The 2.5 hour workshop started with a prologue by Buchar about the financial cuts the board will have to make next year in the face of a $6 billion deficit in the state’s education budget. Depending on the budget adopted by the Texas Legislature next year, FBISD would receive $15 to $27 million less from the state, said Buchar. “We will be faced with passing a budget where there is a deficit,” she said. “When we look at zoning….the board is trying very hard to not break up communities. You have to understand that’s the framework we are operating in. We may have to look at cutting programs and we don’t want to do that. We just became a Recognized District and we are very proud of that. These are not random, malicious lines we are drawing, “ she said of the zoning process.
“Education is not the priority for the State Legislator. They already said Redistricting is their priority and that has nothing to do with children,” said Trustee Marilyn Glover. “We need to look at what we are going to do, facing severe cuts.”
Not only does this mean that the district may not be able to move forward with the construction of new schools, like Middle School 15 in Rosaharon that was approved in the 2007 bond referendum, it also means closing schools, according to board discussions. “Middle School 15 cannot be a reality” for the forseeable future, said Buchar. “Not until the Texas Legislators pass a balanced budget and impose their cuts on us and we see what we are left with,” she said. Middle School 15 is necessary to alleviate severe overcrowding of Baines Middle School in the Sienna Plantation area. The 4C edited plan sends a portion of Sienna Plantation to First Colony Middle School. Superintendent Tim Jenney took the opportunity during the workshop to remind the public that the district planned for growth in this area with the construction of Middle School 15 but the economic downturn and loss of state revenue does not leave them with enough funds to open the school. “We could build it but we can’t operate it,” he said, noting that middle schools cost about $1.5 million a year to run.
The board also discussed closing Colony Bend Elementary School in First Colony which has low enrollment and rezoning students to either Highlands or Commonwealth Elementary Schools. Eliminating one elementary school campus will save the district about $750,000 a year, said Ben Copeland who is the district’s Chief Auxiliary Officer.
Additionally, they may dissolve either McAuliffe Middle or Willowridge High School. In lieu of closing McAuliffe Middle, they could make it into a Technical Education Center or Administrative building for the district, said Copeland.
If they close Willowridge High School, they would send those students to Marshall High School which has the capacity to absorb extra students, said Copeland. Then, they would also have to add a grade level to Missouri City and McAuliffe Middle Schools. Currently, these campuses are only 7th and 8th grades but they would add 9th grades, he said.
Those campuses were housing just two grade levels as a way to reduce class sizes and provide more instructional support to the students who were not performing well, said Superintendent of Middle Schools, Lance Hindt. Scores on recent standardized tests have improved, indicating a positive result, he noted.
“When you have schools that have capacities for 1227 and they are under enrolled by 500 students, it’s time to make some tough decisions and cost is going to be a prevailing factor,” said Glover. “We need to take some bold steps…” she said.
The next workshop will be on December 13, before the regular board meeting. Public Input sessions regarding the recommended zoning options will follow – probably in January, said Jenney. The board will vote on the zoning plans in either their second meeting of January or in February, he said.

New Territory Resident Meeting on Sunday, November 7

BBEZONE/NEW TERRITORY COMMUNITY MEETING
Sunday, November 7th
3 p.m.
Sports Complex
PAVILION


PLease submit your questions IN ADVANCE to: bbezone@googlegroups.com -- ***Make sure you enter "QUESTIONS" in the Subject line so it is not missed!!!

A few guidelines:
1. Questions should be clear & detailed, but concise.
Also, consider whether it has already been addressed on the site!

2. Bring a PEN & PAPER to take notes on HOW YOU CAN HELP!

3. Come with solutions in hand to the problems YOU see and meet with our CORE TEAM LEADERS to VOLUNTEER!

4. Most IMPORTANTLY, Please remember we are all Moms & Dads volunteering in this effort! Please be respectful when
addressing volunteers and other parents, even if you don't agree with them.

5. Show your support by getting involved in our petition drive! - We have foot soldiers out going door to door, but not ENOUGH! If you can help with petitions, let me or Becky Zaffuta know ASAP! JoeandBecky21@comcast.net Conniejwc@earthlink.net Don't let someone else be the reason YOUR kid stays at SARTARTIA...MAKE YOURSELF PART OF THE SOLUTION AND VOLUNTEER.

6. We are working on possibly selling community t-shirts! $10.00 each. If we can get them done, they will be available for sale at the meeting. Please bring cash!

Don't let someone else be the reason YOUR kid stays at SARTARTIA...
MAKE YOURSELF PART OF THE SOLUTION AND VOLUNTEER!

Don't forget our Community slogan,
"FBISD, Don't Divide New Territory!"
on your rear windshield!

WE CAN WIN THIS THING TOGETHER!


SEE YOU THERE!!!!

New Territory Rallies Against Proposed FBISD Zoning Plan

New Territory residents have geared up for a community wide initiative to try to keep Brazos Bend Elementary students zoned to Sartartia Middle School instead of a new middle school that opens in Pecan Grove next year. That’s the plan proposed by Fort Bend Independent School District in their efforts to best utilize middle school #14 on Plantation Drive.
In an effort to persuade FBISD to consider another option to keep Brazos Bend zoned to Sartartia, residents have started a google group (http://groups.google.com/group/bbezone) and started a petition which can be found posted at the Club.
Also, they have planned a “Walk or Bike to School Day” for Friday, October 29 whereby students from the west side of New Territory will forego riding the bus to and from school that day to demonstrate how close they live to Sartartia. Students will start walking at 8 a.m. and converge at the underpass at New Territory Blvd. on the east side of 99. To further emphasize their close proximity to the school, they will print and wear the number of miles they live from Sartartia on their t-shirts. All subdivisions in the southwest section of New Territory are less than 2 miles from Sartartia Middle School and all subdivisions in the northwest section are within 3 miles of the school.
At an FBISD workshop on October 25, FBISD’s Chief Auxiliary Services Officer Ben Copeland presented three “A” plans, all of which showed the west side of New Territory zoned to the new middle school. “We were blindsided,” commented New Territory Connie Chastain who lives in River Glen. “We really didn’t expect that there would be no options presented to keep Brazos Bend at Sartartia. It seems like they feel this part of New Territory is expendable,” she said.
When Trustee Laurie Caldwell acknowledged that students in New Territory are being displaced and “people are upset”, Copeland suggested that they could “go back and consider other options” if she wanted. The crowd yelled “yes!”, but Caldwell did not direct him to do so.
Of the six board members present, Daniel Menendez said he was in favor of considering another plan that keep Sartartia’s zone “closer to where it is now”.
“I don’t see a choice,” said Trustee Susan Hohnbaum. “I feel strongly in going through this process this year that we equalize our campuses.”
The district staff said that the 471 students currently residing on the west side of New Territory are needed to help fill the new middle school which might be significantly underutilized if not. Plus, schools like Baines Middle School in Missouri City are currently overcrowded and rezoning is necessary to bring relief, said Copeland. “There are a dozen different ways to skin a cat...we attempted to balance the western side of the district,” he said. “If we start rezoning First Colony and Fort Settlement, this crowd will just be replaced by a different crowd,” he said of the New Territory residents who filled the board room.
Copeland’s main argument for rezoning the west side of New Territory to middle school #14 was that they already go to Travis High School which is off US 99 on Harlem Road. “This plan follows the high school path. Middle School 14 is a feeder for Travis,” he said. In addition, students on the west side of New Territory are already bused across 99, even though they are less than three miles away, because crossing the busy freeway is considered a hazard. “They would just be bused a little further than they are now. In the long term, this provides balance and meets our objectives for efficient use of our facilities,” said Copeland.
But some New Territory residents fiercely objected to that argument, pointing out that a pedestrian path exists from the west side of New Territory Blvd. to the east side.
Zoning Plan Option 2A, favored by most of the trustees, buses students from subdivisions several miles down Hwy. 90, including old Sugar Land (south of 90), Hall Lake, Venetian Estates and Alkire Lakes. Also included is the Lakes and Meadow Lakes along First Colony Blvd. and an apartment complex along Fluor Daniel Drive. Another apartment complex along FM 1464 would also go to Sartartia, according to the proposed plan. Chelsea Harbour, too, would be zoned to Sartartia.
“FBISD’s zoning plan A gets an F from New Territory parents,” says a flyer recently distributed by parents.
. The next FBISD meeting is November 8 at 4:30 at the administration building on Lexington. Watch the google group postings for constant updates on community meetings.