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Residents ask trustees to keep Williams Creek Lake Estates assigned to Pebble Creek Elementary amid rezoning
Summary
Two residents from Williams Creek Lake Estates urged the College Station ISD Board of Trustees to keep the neighborhood zoned to Pebble Creek Elementary during the district's elementary rezoning discussion, citing a small local enrollment, short commutes and projected large growth in nearby Southern Point.
Kristen Hitt, a resident of Williams Creek Lake Estates, told the College Station Independent School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 19 that her neighborhood should remain zoned to Pebble Creek Elementary amid proposed elementary rezoning.
Hitt said Pebble Creek is over capacity and acknowledged that rezoning will affect many families, but she argued Williams Creek Lake Estates' 25 elementary-age students are not the cause of the school's capacity problems and should not be moved. "Pebble Creek has a population problem," Hitt said. "Our community of 25 school children is not and will never be the contributing factor to capacity issues at Pebble Creek."
The Williams Creek speakers placed their plea in the larger context of rapid housing growth nearby. Hitt told trustees that Williams Creek Lake Estates has 97 lots (68 built), with 15 homes containing elementary-age children, totaling 25 students. By contrast, she said Southern Point opened in 2019 and now lists more than 2,000 home sites on its website; applying the same neighborhood's 22% elementary rate would equal about 440 elementary students, a figure she said argues for building an additional elementary to relieve districtwide capacity, not rezoning Williams Creek.
Carly Bumbaugh, also representing Williams Creek Lake Estates, detailed practical impacts if the neighborhood were moved to Creekview Elementary under some rezoning plans. "Right now Williams Creek Lake Estates is 2.6 miles to Pebble Creek Elementary and 5.1 miles to Creekview Elementary," Bumbaugh said, and noted the district's 7:40 a.m. start time. She said the longer commute would require earlier wake times and could complicate caregivers' schedules. "No parent should have to pass one school to get to another school at the elementary level where community is essential," she said.
Both speakers said they supported rezoning proposals 6 and 7 insofar as those options keep Williams Creek and Southern Point at Pebble Creek, but argued those plans are short-term measures that do not solve long-term capacity driven by rapid housing growth.
Trustees did not take action on rezoning during public comment; the comments were placed on the record for the board's later deliberations. The district is conducting a multi-plan rezoning study; residents addressed the board during the public-comment period, which the board said does not permit board response on items not on that night's agenda.
Clarifying details from speakers and the meeting record: Williams Creek Lake Estates: 97 lots total; 68 developed lots; 15 homes with elementary-age children = 25 children; distance to Pebble Creek stated as 2.6 miles, to Creekview as 5.1 miles; school start time 07:40 a.m.; Southern Point described in public comment as having over 2,000 home sites. The speakers referenced rezoning proposals labeled in district materials as Plans 1, 5, 6 and 7; speakers specifically favored Plans 6 and 7 insofar as they would keep Williams Creek assigned to Pebble Creek.
The remarks were part of the board's public comment period; trustees did not debate or vote on rezoning during that segment. The district will incorporate public input as it completes map analysis and later agenda items.
