Flower Mound Leader > News
Rezoning battle continues, includes council
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
As discussions continue regarding the proposed rezoning of Flower Mound High School feeder zones, the boundary line isn't the only battle brewing.
On one hand, there are residents who object to being rezoned while others embrace the plan.
There is also a conflict between the Flower Mound Town Council, which has taken a public stand against the current rezoning plans, and Lewisville ISD, which questions the town’s involvement.
Tuesday, residents on both sides of the proposals gave their opinion at the second community meeting on the matter. The rezoning committee will reconvene Feb. 20 to discuss resident input and will present its final proposals to the LISD Board of Trustees on March 18 for a discussion. The board is expected to vote on a proposal in April.
Both proposals call for portions of Liberty and Wellington elementary schools to be rezoned for Old Settlers Elementary School. Part of Old Settlers would be rezoned for Donald Elementary School. In Proposal 1, about 96 students at Vickery Elementary who are zoned for Forestwood would attend Forest Vista Elementary.
Currently, Old Settlers' zone is split between Shadow Ridge and McKamy. Proposal 1 calls for all students from Old Settlers to go to McKamy. All of the Wellington students would attend Forestwood. Currently, McKamy takes all of Wellington.
In Proposal 2, Garden Ridge Elementary students would attend Forestwood. Forestwood's zone would also stretch west of FM 2499 to Old Settlers Road and take some of those students, which would be a result of Donald's expansion.
Rezone vs. postpone
Unlike last week’s community meeting in which all but two residents who spoke were opposed to the rezoning plans, Tuesday’s meeting showed a slightly more divided crowd. About 25 people spoke against the rezoning plans while nine favored it.
The biggest concern for those against rezoning was that some of the children who live within walking distance to their schools now would have to be bussed to campuses farther away.
"All of the children in my neighborhood walk to school," said Stacey Jarmon, an Old Settlers parent. "And that is done by plan. We bought our houses based on the needs and wishes of our children. The two proposals will change that and put an additional burden on families. These proposals limit our children's ability to participate in extracurricular activities after school if they have to catch a bus."
Others said rezoning is crucial because of the imbalance of student population in some schools. McKamy and Shadow Ridge are at capacity while LISD officials have said Forestwood and Donald are underutilized. Parents said the low numbers at some schools negatively impact some programs.
"Rezoning needs to happen," said Jason Webb, a Donald parent. "If we keep kicking the ball down the field, it's going to come back, and we're going to have to be back here in a year or two fighting the same fight. We need a balanced approach so that all of our children in Flower Mound will excel in all that they do."
After the meeting, Donald principal Michelle Wooten said her school's four special programs -- art, drama, PE and music -- could be reduced to three. Forestwood principal David Tickner said some programs, such as choir and theater arts, now have half-day teachers because of a low student population.
Flower Mound vs. LISD
LISD and Flower Mound officials are find themselves on opposite sides regarding the town council's involvement. On Feb. 8, the council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a halt in the rezoning process.
“I don’t think they should have done it,” said LISD Board of Trustees President Carol Kyer. “It doesn’t make them sound very good. When they put it out there, it sounds like they’re favoring one side of town.”
According to a copy of the resolution, the council suggests several points, including that the district appoint a new committee with use of an outside facilitator; the district provide a liaison to assist in data collection; the committee expand its scope to research overall costs, traffic and pedestrian safety considerations; and LISD address the possible effects of residential property values from rezoning.
“It belittles the committee that worked really hard on this,” Kyer said. “They haven’t let the process finish.”
Kyer said the town’s involvement implies that there hasn’t been previous communication between the two entities.
“There has been plenty of communication between the town and LISD,” Kyer said. “There is no reason for them to do this other than political standing.”
Council members disagree, saying they are simply trying to assist the school district during a tough decision.
“What part of the resolution is not wise advice?” said Councilman Steve Dixon. “We’re just giving advice – listen to the people. You might want to slow down. There is a lot of information out there being characterized as incomplete.”
Residents who oppose the rezoning have suggested the council has played a part in it by their actions last year, adding that some schools' capacity is being impacted by new development in the west side of town.
On Aug. 12, Flower Mound Mayor Tom Hayden sent an email to Kyer and Board Member Kathy Duke asking to have a discussion about the overcrowding at McKamy. The email stated that the overcrowding is impacting the town's growth.
On Aug. 28, Dixon sent an email to then-Town Manager Harlan Jefferson asking if the town staff has contacted LISD about plans to address McKamy to “get the student numbers down to a level where development in Flower Mound will not be negatively impacted.”
Dixon said he was simply inquiring about LISD’s plans.
In December, the council amended the "schools" component of the SMARTGrowth program, which is a set of guidelines to ensure proper infrastructure is in place to handle future growth. Instead of denying a development because the impacted school would not have the capacity to handle the incoming homes, the town will formally communicate with area school districts about future projects. But a project won't be denied because of school capacity issues. Town attorney Terry Welch said denying a project would put the town on shaky legal ground since a school district can't control development.
Dixon said the overcrowding issue has been a hot topic for years.
“People are trying to tie Flower Mound and its council members to what started this rezoning,” Dixon said. “Someone who is new to this discussion, I can see how they might jump to that conclusion. But me knowing everything in full context, this is not a new discussion.”
On one hand, there are residents who object to being rezoned while others embrace the plan.
There is also a conflict between the Flower Mound Town Council, which has taken a public stand against the current rezoning plans, and Lewisville ISD, which questions the town’s involvement.
Tuesday, residents on both sides of the proposals gave their opinion at the second community meeting on the matter. The rezoning committee will reconvene Feb. 20 to discuss resident input and will present its final proposals to the LISD Board of Trustees on March 18 for a discussion. The board is expected to vote on a proposal in April.
Both proposals call for portions of Liberty and Wellington elementary schools to be rezoned for Old Settlers Elementary School. Part of Old Settlers would be rezoned for Donald Elementary School. In Proposal 1, about 96 students at Vickery Elementary who are zoned for Forestwood would attend Forest Vista Elementary.
Currently, Old Settlers' zone is split between Shadow Ridge and McKamy. Proposal 1 calls for all students from Old Settlers to go to McKamy. All of the Wellington students would attend Forestwood. Currently, McKamy takes all of Wellington.
In Proposal 2, Garden Ridge Elementary students would attend Forestwood. Forestwood's zone would also stretch west of FM 2499 to Old Settlers Road and take some of those students, which would be a result of Donald's expansion.
Rezone vs. postpone
Unlike last week’s community meeting in which all but two residents who spoke were opposed to the rezoning plans, Tuesday’s meeting showed a slightly more divided crowd. About 25 people spoke against the rezoning plans while nine favored it.
The biggest concern for those against rezoning was that some of the children who live within walking distance to their schools now would have to be bussed to campuses farther away.
"All of the children in my neighborhood walk to school," said Stacey Jarmon, an Old Settlers parent. "And that is done by plan. We bought our houses based on the needs and wishes of our children. The two proposals will change that and put an additional burden on families. These proposals limit our children's ability to participate in extracurricular activities after school if they have to catch a bus."
Others said rezoning is crucial because of the imbalance of student population in some schools. McKamy and Shadow Ridge are at capacity while LISD officials have said Forestwood and Donald are underutilized. Parents said the low numbers at some schools negatively impact some programs.
"Rezoning needs to happen," said Jason Webb, a Donald parent. "If we keep kicking the ball down the field, it's going to come back, and we're going to have to be back here in a year or two fighting the same fight. We need a balanced approach so that all of our children in Flower Mound will excel in all that they do."
After the meeting, Donald principal Michelle Wooten said her school's four special programs -- art, drama, PE and music -- could be reduced to three. Forestwood principal David Tickner said some programs, such as choir and theater arts, now have half-day teachers because of a low student population.
Flower Mound vs. LISD
LISD and Flower Mound officials are find themselves on opposite sides regarding the town council's involvement. On Feb. 8, the council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a halt in the rezoning process.
“I don’t think they should have done it,” said LISD Board of Trustees President Carol Kyer. “It doesn’t make them sound very good. When they put it out there, it sounds like they’re favoring one side of town.”
According to a copy of the resolution, the council suggests several points, including that the district appoint a new committee with use of an outside facilitator; the district provide a liaison to assist in data collection; the committee expand its scope to research overall costs, traffic and pedestrian safety considerations; and LISD address the possible effects of residential property values from rezoning.
“It belittles the committee that worked really hard on this,” Kyer said. “They haven’t let the process finish.”
Kyer said the town’s involvement implies that there hasn’t been previous communication between the two entities.
“There has been plenty of communication between the town and LISD,” Kyer said. “There is no reason for them to do this other than political standing.”
Council members disagree, saying they are simply trying to assist the school district during a tough decision.
“What part of the resolution is not wise advice?” said Councilman Steve Dixon. “We’re just giving advice – listen to the people. You might want to slow down. There is a lot of information out there being characterized as incomplete.”
Residents who oppose the rezoning have suggested the council has played a part in it by their actions last year, adding that some schools' capacity is being impacted by new development in the west side of town.
On Aug. 12, Flower Mound Mayor Tom Hayden sent an email to Kyer and Board Member Kathy Duke asking to have a discussion about the overcrowding at McKamy. The email stated that the overcrowding is impacting the town's growth.
On Aug. 28, Dixon sent an email to then-Town Manager Harlan Jefferson asking if the town staff has contacted LISD about plans to address McKamy to “get the student numbers down to a level where development in Flower Mound will not be negatively impacted.”
Dixon said he was simply inquiring about LISD’s plans.
In December, the council amended the "schools" component of the SMARTGrowth program, which is a set of guidelines to ensure proper infrastructure is in place to handle future growth. Instead of denying a development because the impacted school would not have the capacity to handle the incoming homes, the town will formally communicate with area school districts about future projects. But a project won't be denied because of school capacity issues. Town attorney Terry Welch said denying a project would put the town on shaky legal ground since a school district can't control development.
Dixon said the overcrowding issue has been a hot topic for years.
“People are trying to tie Flower Mound and its council members to what started this rezoning,” Dixon said. “Someone who is new to this discussion, I can see how they might jump to that conclusion. But me knowing everything in full context, this is not a new discussion.”
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