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Waco ISD board approves new attendance boundaries, closing Alta Vista and shifting zones
Summary
After five months of committee work and public input, the Waco Independent School Board unanimously approved new elementary, middle and high school attendance zones that close Alta Vista and reassign its students primarily to Kendrick and South Waco; implementation planning and grandfathering rules will follow.
The Waco Independent School Board voted unanimously to approve new attendance boundaries that close Alta Vista Elementary and reassign most of its students to Kendrick and South Waco elementary zones, effective for the 2025–26 school year.
The district presented maps developed by a 60-member attendance-boundary committee that met over five months and collected community feedback through three public hearings and an online “thought exchange” with more than 1,000 participants. Superintendent Dr. Spicer and committee members said the maps were designed to respect natural neighborhood boundaries, preserve feeder patterns through middle and high school, and improve program equity across campuses.
The vote followed a presentation by Dr. Spicer, parent and committee member Clint Harp, and special-education teacher Randy Fowler, who summarized committee priorities and community input. Dr. Spicer told trustees, “The hope would be with the implementation of these new maps that we would put these in place for the 2025–26 school year.”
The committee emphasized keeping cohorts together where possible (for example, recommending that West Avenue Elementary students stay together rather than be split) and balancing capacity at middle-school campuses. The recommended changes move West Avenue Elementary to the Cesar Chavez feeder pattern and expand Cesar Chavez’s boundary along specific streets to maintain a single feeder for West Avenue through University High School. The maps also show detailed street-level boundary changes east and south of I‑35 and along Loop 340 and Flat Creek.
Committee members said they considered program placement — including whether to expand advanced-academics offerings such as ATLAS — transportation impacts and facilities constraints. The administration said program changes would be studied during the 2025–26 year and returned to the board for decisions; in the interim, students currently enrolled in a school would be considered for grandfathering so that mid-year transitions and sibling placement could be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
Trustees asked about overcrowding at Cesar Chavez Middle School; administration said it would seek facility adjustments and operational changes (for example, flow and circulation patterns) and would review a facilities study by O'Connor Robertson to identify physical changes or reconfigurations to gain capacity. Transportation staff will develop updated bus routes tied to the new zones.
The motion to approve the committee and administration recommendation was moved by Mr. Grant and seconded by Mr. Guillory; trustees voted aye and the motion passed unanimously. The administration will return with an implementation plan, proposed grandfathering rules and transfer-policy revisions ahead of the 2025–26 transfer window.
Community members, parents and principals who served on the committee welcomed the unanimous vote but stressed that the board and administration must follow through with clear communication, transportation planning and program-equity work.
The board’s action completes the boundary recommendation phase; next steps are drafting grandfathering and transfer procedures and finalizing bus and program plans for the coming year.
