ROSENBERG, Texas — Lamar CISD is considering rezoning portions of the school district and leveling elementary schools to deal with drastic overcrowding on many campuses. The district met Monday night to take a closer look at some proposals.
Lamar CISD is the fastest growing district in the state of Texas and finding a solution that satisfies every family is proving to be incredibly difficult.
Families from across the district showed up Monday to fight for what's best for their children.
"The proposals will move us to one of the lowest-rated elementary schools in the district," concerned mother Mary Barnes said.
Barnes lives in Kingdom Heights, one of many growing communities in the district. Her children currently go to Frost, a top-rated elementary in the district. New potential maps would move her kids closer to Jackson Elementary.
"All three current options move our neighborhood," Barnes said. "There's no option to keep us at the same school or move us to a comparable school."
The district is trying to tackle explosive growth in the community. Frost is one of several schools that is over capacity. Other campuses are operating at less than 50%.
"Frost is quite literally groaning under the weight of all the people in the building," a current Frost parent said.
Families who live in Pecan Lakes and Rivers Edge also spoke out against moving their kids to a lower-ranked school. Luckily for them, the district adopted a new plan Monday that appears to take that off the table for those two neighborhoods.
The trustees approved secondary rezoning option A, which is the district's traditional approach to rezoning by neighborhoods. It means that the elementary zones are separate from secondary zones.
That decision now comes at the cost of the Kingdom Heights community.
"Why are we the scapegoats?" a Kingdom Heights parent said.
Frustrated parents said their neighborhood is the only one losing as the district plans to shuffle around its booming student population.
"This all stems from a lack of preparation for the growth in our area," Barnes said. "It sounds like their minds are made up. They want to improve some of the low-rated schools by bringing in other students."
The district will continue to work on the plans over the next few weeks and months. A final vote won't happen until the spring. So there is still time for parents to voice their concerns -- including at another board meeting Tuesday night.