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Farmersville USD details plan to convert Hester and Snowden into K–3 schools
Summary
Superintendent Manuel Mendez presented a plan to make Hester and Snowden Elementary K–3 schools, saying the change aims to provide continuity for early learners, add PK/TK capacity at Hester, preserve transportation, and use School Works of California for boundary mapping; no formal board action was taken at the meeting.
Superintendent Manuel Mendez told the Farmersville Unified School District board Monday that the district plans to convert Hester and Snowden elementary schools into K–3 campuses beginning with next school year if planning proceeds as expected.
Mendez said the district’s goal is to give students a stable early‑grade experience. “The 2 biggest questions are transportation. Are we offering transportation to our students? The answer is always yes,” he said, adding the district will provide buses or vans for eligible pupils.
The presentation described three central benefits: continuity (students at Hester could remain at one site for up to six years, including new PK/TK classrooms), a focused curriculum to build foundational reading and math skills, and increased familiarity with the same staff and routines to lower anxiety and improve attendance. Mendez said Hester will receive nine new PK/TK classrooms, each with capacity “for up to 20 students,” and that the plan seeks to align instruction to the California Dashboard.
Board members asked about boundaries, redistricting and dual‑immersion placement. Mendez said the district contracted with School Works of California to draw and maintain boundary maps and to provide an address‑lookup widget for parents. He said dual immersion will remain a cohort program and that existing dual‑immersion students who live outside a new zone would continue at Snowden to preserve cohort continuity. “Every single case will be taken, and we will work the very best possible way to make sure that most of our students have the ability for dual language,” Mendez said.
Mendez described outreach plans — newsletters, ParentSquare messages, social media, flyers and a QR‑coded survey — and said the district will post a question‑and‑answer record on its website. He called the decision “data driven,” saying the district’s aim is to invest in early childhood years he called “the most formidable years for reading, writing, math.”
No formal action was taken during the meeting; the item was presented as an informational discussion and board members indicated continued public outreach and future updates would follow.
