The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees got its first look at proposed attendance zones for the District’s seventh high school, Independence, during the regular Board meeting on October 14.

View the presentation.

Parents and community members are invited to submit feedback and questions about the proposal via email, phone or fax (469-633-6050).

• If your child is currently zoned to attend Centennial or Heritage high schools, please contact Dennis Brent at 469-633-6359 or email BrentD@friscoisd.org.
• If your child is currently zoned to attend Liberty High School, please contact Rick Cohagan at 469-633-6356 or email CohaganR@friscoisd.org.

Public input will also be taken November 11 during the next regularly scheduled School Board meeting.

Trustees will make a final decision in December.

Independence High School is currently under construction at 10555 Independence Parkway. It will open as a 4A school next fall with ninth, tenth and eleventh graders and will offer varsity team sports in its first year.

Independence will relieve Centennial, Heritage and Liberty high schools, all of which are currently near or above capacity.

All three high schools received additions in recent years and now accommodate 300 more students or up to 2,100 students at each campus.

As of October 1, enrollment at Centennial was 2,191, enrollment at Heritage was 1,984 and enrollment at Liberty was 2,229.

Projections show enrollment would continue to grow without Independence High School to ease crowding.

Without Independence and the associated zoning changes, Centennial would enroll 2,253 students in 2014 and 2,302 students in 2015; Heritage would enroll 2,298 students in 2014 and 2,606 students in 2015; and Liberty would enroll 2,532 students in 2014 and 2,900 students in 2015.

“The District doesn’t take moving students to a new school lightly,” said Deputy Superintendent for Business Services Richard Wilkinson. “We try to move as few students as possible and to limit the number of times a student will have to change schools. Our goal is to provide the best and most equitable opportunities for all children. We hope these decisions will serve us well over time.”

The District considers the following goals when evaluating attendance zones:

• Effective utilization of space — efficient space utilization for effective instructional programs
• Stability of students — minimize the number of students changing school
• Neighborhood schools — proximity of students to assigned campus
• Maintaining diversity — heterogeneous campus enrollments, when practical
• Promoting unity — community, promote unity throughout District

Reedy High School will open in fall 2015 at Stonebrook Parkway and 4th Army Road. It is expected to relieve Frisco and Wakeland high schools, with zoning to take place in fall 2014.