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Dickinson ISD News
Board of Trustees approves new 2023-2024 junior high boundary map for grades 6-8
01/13/2023

In December, the district emailed a survey to parents seeking input on two different proposed maps. The majority of parents responding favored Plan 2, which was also the plan the district's Transportation Department believes works best for developing bus routes and providing transportation for students. 

When Dickinson Junior High opens in August, the district will be realigning grade levels throughout the district in Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade. Elementary campuses will house Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd grade, followed by grades 4-5 in middle schools and 6-8 in junior high. 

 

 Letter from Superintendent Carla Voelkel: 

Dear Parents,

We would like to thank the community for their input regarding the district’s proposed attendance zone plans. We realize that we cannot make everyone happy, but the plans must be feasible and operationally sound for the district. Please allow us to explain how the maps were created. The district worked for over a year to develop new attendance zones to address the opening of our third junior high, Dickinson Junior High School, located in Texas City. We presented two plans for consideration, and these were the best options of the many plans developed. District administration, our demographer, and the Transportation Department worked together to create the proposed attendance zones. The demographer was a vital part of the process because he has access to geocoded data that shows where our students reside in the district which allowed us to have “real-time” data as we worked through the boundary design process. The demographer also has mapping software that allowed the team to see immediate results of adjustments we made to each map during the process. 

We considered many factors in developing the proposed attendance zones: future student growth, district transportation routes, and student population demographics. 

Dickinson ISD is a fast growth district. We must account for future-incoming students, or we will be redrawing attendance boundaries every few years. Most new housing is on the western and southern part of the district. We purposefully left Dickinson Junior High with a smaller student population to account for future growth. Please note that in two to three years, Dickinson Junior High will have similar enrollment as the other junior high campuses.

Dickinson ISD provides bus transportation for all students, and we are one of the few districts that does this. State law does not require districts to transport students who live within two miles of a campus. However, due to the fact that many of our neighborhoods do not have sidewalks for students to walk safely to school, we make bus transportation available to all.  The Transportation Department worked with us to finalize the plans, and based upon their evaluation, Plan 2 is the most feasible in terms of routing and continuing to provide bus transportation for our students. Plan 2 was also the option most favored by those providing responses to the Boundary Alignment Survey.  Provided below are answers to questions and concerns that were submitted on the Boundary Alignment Survey.

If you have any additional questions, please use the district’s “Just Ask” feature on the district’s website at www.dickinsonisd.org/justask to submit your questions. 

Sincerely,

Carla Voelkel Superintendent

 

School attendance zones for Dickinson ISD junior highs have been finalized  after the Board of Trustees this week approved Plan 2 as the boundary map for students in grades 6-8 attending the McAdams, Kranz and Dickinson Junior High campuses in 2023-2024.  

Click map to enlarge

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why don’t you just use the middle school boundary zones?

This was one of the first things we wanted to do, but the plan would not work due to the locations of the junior high campuses. For example, both Dunbar and Barber attend Kranz Junior High currently. We would not be able to get the equitable distribution with the student body characteristics we strive for on our campuses. Another example: Both McAdams Junior High and Dickinson Junior High Schools are within the current Barber attendance zone. If we were to say that all Barber students go to McAdams Junior High, then the students who live in the neighborhood right next to DJH would go to McAdams JH.

2) Why is the zoning changing so drastically?

The district is going from two junior highs to three which will require transition from both current junior high campuses. In addition, we are also trying to account for future growth and keep the student characteristics as similar as possible.

3. Why aren’t the attendance zones the same size?

Certain areas in Dickinson ISD are more densely populated than others, and some parts of the district have very few people residing there at all.  Areas in the southern and western parts of the district are growing much faster and have more potential to add new students in the immediate future. The zones were created to address district growth for as many years as possible.

4. Why do students in San Leon have to drive by Kranz to attend another junior high?

Plan 2 allows for students living in Bacliff and San Leon to attend Kranz Junior High, which is closer to where they live.

5. Why do students in Bay Colony have to go to different junior highs?

As we move from two to three junior highs, McAdams Junior High  is the most centrally located and had to take in students from the “middle” of the district. Bay Colony is densely populated, so we could not send everyone living in this development to one school and keep our campuses balanced.

6. How will this affect the STEAM Academy students?

The STEAM Academy is for identified students in grades 5 through 8. In 23-24, all three junior high schools will have 6th and 7th grade STEAM Academy classes. STEAM Academy students who are currently in 5th and 6th grade will attend the junior high school they are zoned to for next year. For 23-24, Kranz will have the only 8th grade STEAM Academy classes. Students who are currently in the 7th grade STEAM Academy at Kranz JH will stay at Kranz JH for the 8th grade STEAM Academy. The 8th grade STEAM Academy students will be bussed from their home attendance zone to Kranz JH. In 24-25, all three junior high schools will have the STEAM Academy for grades 6, 7, and 8.

7. Will junior high transfers be approved?

No, students will attend the junior school for which they are zoned. DISD provides bus transportation for all students.

8. Will attendance zones change again?

As a fast-growth school district, it is possible that attendance zones may change in the future for elementary, middle, and junior high school campuses. We continuously monitor enrollment data and strive to maintain well-balanced schools.



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