Waxahachie ISD trustees favor elementary-feeder rezoning approach for new Waukesha Creek High School, discuss transfers and UIL implications

Trustees and district staff reviewed two proposed attendance-zone maps and transfer options for the district's new Waukesha Creek High School and indicated a preference for a plan that preserves elementary-to-junior-high feeder lines.

In a board workshop presentation, district staff described two rezoning concepts and community survey results. "About 54% of our community suggested grades 9 and 10 be how we open Waukesha Creek," a district presenter said, noting the district is leaning toward opening the new campus with ninth and 10th grades and adding one grade per year thereafter. The district described the target opening for Waukesha Creek as the 2027-28 school year, with full four-grade operation expected by 2029-30.

District officials told trustees the two plans try to meet priorities set for the new campus: socioeconomic balance, clear feeder patterns from elementary to junior high to high school, and distributing the district's two comprehensive high schools so they would be in different University Interscholastic League (UIL) districts if practicable.

Why this matters: The map choice affects which elementary and junior-high students will feed which high school, projected campus utilization and measures of economic disadvantage at each campus. The board emphasized that the district wants to avoid overloading one campus and to preserve clear feeder relationships.

Key details from the presentation - Survey participation: staff said about 384 community responses were collected. Roughly 54% of respondents preferred opening with grades 9 and 10; the next largest preference was ninth grade only; about 7% were undecided. - Capacities and enrollment: both comprehensive high schools are designed for about 3,200 students. Using current-demographic assumptions staff presented year-of-open enrollment projections in which both campuses would ultimately settle near 1,800'1,900 students when fully enrolled. - Socioeconomic balance: under plan 1 (which follows current elementary boundaries), the presenters showed roughly 51.1% economically disadvantaged at Waukesha Creek and 51.8% at Waukesha High School on today's numbers. Plan 2 produced a slightly larger gap (about 53.5% vs. 49.6%). Staff cautioned these are today's snapshots and will change over time. - Boundary specifics: staff identified a small adjustment along FM 1446 that would shift five elementary students from one elementary zone to a neighboring zone to clean up the line; the district said that would not be a major realignment.

Transfers, grandfathering and transportation District staff outlined proposed campus-transfer rules to allow limited student movement between the two comprehensive high schools: - One-time transfer: the district proposed a one-time transfer option for students who want to move between campuses for an academic program not offered at their home campus. Staff said all transfers would require the student's family to provide transportation; the district would not run buses for transfer students. - Grandfathering: students who have already earned at least one high-school credit at Waukesha High School would be permitted to remain at Waukesha High School rather than move to Creek; this option would be time-limited as the opening cohorts phase in. - Revocation: the district told trustees that if a student transfers to participate in a program and later leaves that program the transfer could be revoked and the student returned to the home campus.

UIL and eligibility implications Board members raised concerns about athletic recruiting and eligibility. A district official summarized UIL procedure for a new campus: the district must apply annually to UIL; UIL uses a formula (district staff said it multiplies reported enrollment by roughly 1.33) to place campuses for realignment. The district warned that students who take a transfer, then later return, may face UIL penalties: a student who transfers back can lose a year of varsity eligibility under current UIL rules. Trustees asked staff to make those eligibility consequences clear to families.

Community engagement and next steps Staff proposed a series of summer town halls and alternate times to maximize community participation; staff gave tentative June/July/August dates and said meetings would be broadcast live (the department noted Facebook Live as one option). Trustees asked that town-hall feedback be collected and summarized for the board before the August regular meeting; staff said the district aims to bring recommended rezoning maps back for board consideration on Aug. 11 so families would have advance notice well before the planned campus opening.

Board response and direction Board members expressed a general inclination toward the plan that preserves existing elementary feeder alignment (Plan 1) while asking staff to refine the transfer and grandfathering rules and to continue revising feeder assignments at the junior-high level to avoid creating "haves and have-nots." Trustees also asked staff to continue work with the demographer and to return with more detailed feeder maps, demographic breakdowns and the compiled town-hall feedback.

Ending District staff said they will continue modeling enrollment, demographic and utilization scenarios and will schedule community meetings this summer; the board asked staff to return with a recommendation in August.