The board of trustees for the Katy Independent School district met for a work-study session on October 19, with President Lance Redmon away on business. Vice President Dawn Champagne led the meeting.

Chief Operating Officer Ted Vierling presented the updated recommendations for the attendance boundary modifications for the next academic year. The district will open its newest elementary school in the Sunterra area in rapidly-growing northwest quadrant, which will relieve Youngblood Elementary as the neighborhoods of north Sunterra, Winward and Anniston continue to grow, Vierling said. He said that the area is still growing, although not at the “hypergrowth” rate of previous years.

Wolfe Elementary, 502 Addicks Howell Rd. in Houston, which is expected to grow enrollment with new apartment complexes and new development going in on Highway 6, will transfer two land use zones (LUZ) to newly-renovated Bear Creek Elementary, 4815 Hickory Downs Dr., Houston, to move those students closer to a school campus and to reduce commute times down Highway 6 for parents, Vierling said.

West Memorial Elementary, 22605 Provincial Blvd. in Katy, will transfer some students to Cimarron Elementary to help balance enrollment. There are a large number of apartment complexes in the area – 12 to 15 – which create challenges in terms of a large influx of students as well as mobility, Vierling said. In addition, about 25 students will be shifted from Katy High School to Taylor High School, Vierling said, to be consistent with the new feeder pattern established for West Memorial Elementary.

Mayde Creek Junior High, 2700 Greenhouse Rd. in Houston, will balance enrollment with Cardiff Junior High, 3900 Dayflower in Katy, by transferring two small land use zones.

Cinco Ranch High School, which has seen a growth in sidewalks in the area and has “swelled up” in enrollment, Vierling said, will transfer 62 students to Tompkins High School, which has shrunk slightly.

No action was taken on the ABM proposal during the October 19 work study meeting.

A public hearing was held on the “Targeted Improvement Plan” for Mayde Creek Elementary, 2698 Greenhouse Road in Houston, followed by a presentation by campus leadership. The school, a Title I school built in 1983, served 821 students last year and is expected to serve 910 students this academic year. Its student population is 40.7% Hispanic and 74.7% economically disadvantaged, according to the Texas Tribune Schools Explorer data. The number of special needs students has grown, school officials said during the presentation to the board. The campus received a D rating from the Texas Education Agency in the last rating cycle.

The school improvement strategy provides intensive curriculum and instruction improvements focused on strengthening instructional practices to increase student achievement and close gaps, according to the presentation. The eight milestones for the plan are:

· Establish a consistent PLC planning cadence that includes data analysis, backwards planning, lesson internalization and lesson rehearsal

· Implement routine lesson rehearsals for each teacher twice per semester

· Build campus leadership capacity for data analysis to translate findings into instructional action.

· Implement a campus assessment and data-analysis calendar to support timely instructional decisions and adjustments

· Implement a student-level progress tracker to monitor growth and support individual student goal setting

· Use disaggregated data to drive small group instruction

· Implement targeted Tier 2 interventions

· Strengthen instruction for emergent bilingual students.

The board also briefly discussed future board approval for the superintendent to form a naming advisory committee for the purpose of naming new Elementary School #49, which will open in the northwest quadrant of the district at 6435 Pitts in Katy in mid-2027. No action was taken.

The next meeting of the school board was scheduled for October 26, after the Katy Times went to press for this edition.