FRISCO, Texas — Frisco ISD board members unanimously approved a plan to change school boundaries at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
More than half the crowd erupted – some even yelled, “Shame!” – as a board member seconded a motion to approve the plan.
The board hadn’t even voted when the crowd began to get rowdy and walk out.
The contentious rezoning process is nothing new for the state’s fastest growing school district.
Frisco ISD has built 61 new schools in the last 20 years.
It is committed to keeping enrollment at campuses relatively uniform, and avoiding any high schools being designated as 6-A.
That means high school campuses are capped at 2,100, but Lone Star High School and Reedy High School currently have more than 2,200.
To relieve overcrowding and allow for the addition of Panther Creek High School in 2022, the district approved a rezoning plan that includes moving some students to a different campus even after they complete their freshman year somewhere else.
That drew criticism from families.
Mothers and fathers took to the podium at Monday’s board meeting, the final in a series of public hearings held to gather input about the rezoning plan.
They told stories of kids finally establishing themselves as freshman after difficult years of COVID-19, only to have the district send them in a different direction.
“You are crushing her dreams,” said one mother.
One student told the board she feared having to “start all over again.”
Mann Bellani, a freshman at Reedy, is being moved to Lone Star.
“Personally, I’m more of a quiet person in social settings and I don’t make that many friends,” Bellani said. “The friends I do have I value. Bringing me away from that, it will take a long time to build friendships and trust in a new setting.”
Board members praised the students who spoke but did approve the plan.
Frisco’s enrollment grew by more than 2,400 over the past year, brings total enrollment for the district to 65,600.