Trustees debate merits of realigning Plano senior high schools

The two factions of the public who were in attendance had vastly differing views on the realignment issues.

Plano West High School

Less than two years after changes were made to the attendance zones of Plano high schools, the debate has been reopened.

Hundreds of white-T-shirt clad spectators attended a school board work session Tuesday night where trustees debated the issue for nearly three hours with no resolution reached. Supporters were split about evenly, with half wishing to change the current alignment to reduce the population at Plano West, and the other half wishing to leave the lines alone.

Under the current alignment plan, Plano West would grow to about 3,400 students over the next 10 years from its current enrollment of about 2,100. The current largest school, Plano East with an enrollment of about 2,900 students, would see its enrollment drop considerably.

The most vocal trustee was Missy Bender, one of two board members who was on the board in late 2009 when the current lines were drawn and an opponent of the realignment. Bender spent much of the meeting furthering the dialogue by questioning board members about their feelings on balanced enrollment, construction costs and the feasibility of a potential fourth senior high school.

Bender, who has sided with trustees Marilyn Hinton and Carrolyn Moebius in the current debate, said she didn't feel the current alignment plan needed to be changed. She said the district has never had an equal enrollment among all senior high schools and shouldn't make that a priority now.

"Our goal as a district is to continuously improve student learning," she said. "I want to know if there is there a correlation between bigness and academics?"

While Bender spoke against realignment, trustee David Stolle said the issue needs to be addressed. Stolle said he thinks the enrollment at Plano West will be too high. Instead, he said the district should find a maximum number of students for each senior high, somewhere between 2,300 and 2,700, and stick with it.

"Prior to the start of this school year, Plano ISD will have campuses with 3,000-plus students only two times," he said. "If the projections from January come true, we will hit that number nine times in 10 years -- twice at East in next two years and seven times in a row at West beginning in 2014."

Stolle said the question shouldn't be whether the district can expand West to fit 3,400 students, but rather should a school have that many students.

"We do big really well, but are we getting too big?" he said. "Do we have a problem? I think we do."

The two factions of the public who were in attendance had vastly differing views on the realignment issues.

Supporters of realigning the schools said the large enrollment at Plano West will make it more difficult for students to win spots on athletic teams, as well as events such as school plays and organizations such as student council. They said the huge enrollment disparity between the largest and smallest schools is not fair and an effort should be made to even the enrollments.

Those who do not wish to realign the schools said the issue was already decided in 2009, when it nearly "ripped the city apart." They said the 2009 school board had more experience than this year's board and took the time to make a thoughtful decision. They also said with declining test scores and a budget deficit, there were simply more important things for the trustees to worry about then realignment.

Plano Superintendent Doug Otto said the administration will not take sides in the realignment debate and will carry out whatever plan the board wishes. He said offering a top notch education will be the administration's priority, regardless of enrollment numbers.

Dr. Cathy Galloway, the district's associate superintendent for district services, said the overall enrollment numbers will not affect class size. She said the district decides on a student-teacher ratio and will ensure each campus has a similar ratio, even if it means hiring additional teachers or adding extra sessions to ensure the ratios remain the same.

Several ideas were mentioned about how to lower the enrollment at Plano West. One idea was simply to take some students from West and move them to Plano Senior, balancing the two schools, and leaving East as is. Another, and more complicated, plan involves converting one of the six high schools, most likely Jasper High since it is the largest, into a senior high. The remaining high schools would absorb Jasper's enrollment.

Richard Matkin, the district's associate superintendent for business services, said if Jasper is converted, several other steps must be taken to accommodate the new alignment.

Under a plan that would leave Plano East, as well as McMillen and Williams high schools untouched, changes would still need to be made to the remaining high schools. Plano West would likely need to be expanded, and Jasper would need additions such as athletic fields, an auditorium and a larger cafeteria. The remaining three high schools would also need to be enlarged to add the students that previously attended Jasper.

Moebius said she thinks any large-scale changes to the district's high schools need to involve serious planning and public input. With a decision needing to be made by December when a $17 million expansion is scheduled to start at Plano West, Moebius said she doesn't think there is time to make a decision and, therefore, no action should be taken.

Board President Tammy Richards said she feels there is time to make a decision, but said before any decisions can be made the board will need to have cost estimates for each plan.

Matkin said his staff would work to get the board estimates for various plans by the September board meeting.