HOUSTON – The Houston ISD school board has approved a rezoning for 10 elementary schools and also implemented a new policy calling for suspensions and expulsions as a last resort for elementary school students.
The board voted Thursday to adjust neighborhood attendance boundaries at the elementary schools to address classroom overcrowding because of growth throughout the city. State law requires kindergarten through fourth-grade classes to have no more than 22 students per classroom. Classes that exceed that number must request a state waiver.
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Last year, the district submitted about 1,500 class-size waiver requests. This year, working under a directive from the state, administrators have succeeded in reducing that number by roughly 40 percent, according to an HISD press release.
The changes will go into effect for the 2016-17 school year and would apply to new students. Students who are already enrolled will remain at the school in which they are currently zoned.
The rezoning affects the following elementary schools:
• Bastian
• Hartsfield
• Kelso
• Young
• Highland Heights
• Smith
• Stevens
• Wainwright
• Frost
• Law
For detailed information about each proposal and to view accompanying attendance zone maps, visit http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/136340.
Also on Thursday, trustees decided that for the 2016-17 school year, classes will begin on Aug. 22 and end on May 25.
Suspension and expulsion policies were also discussed during Thursday's meeting. It was decided to ban suspensions and expulsions for students in second grade and below. Also, those students will not be sent home for disciplinary issues.
HISD said the decision is based on research showing that young students, particularly those considered to be at risk, often display challenging classroom behaviors as a result of outside trauma. Administrators say stressful situations outside of school often manifest in the form of unacceptable behaviors in the classroom.
"We understand better now than we ever have before how exposure to early adversity affects the developing brains and bodies of children," HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said in a release. "We must take a hard look at how we are handling these issues to ensure we're not contributing to an already stressful situation for these students."
According to HISD, during the 2014-15 school year, 2,673 disciplinary incidents were reported for elementary school students in pre-kindergarten through second grades. Of those, 87 percent involved students who were considered to be economically disadvantaged, at risk or both.
African Americans make up 25 percent of the district's population, and reports showed that they were involved in 70 percent of discipline incidents for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade.
Male students make up more than half of the district population, but were involved in 84 percent of the discipline incidents reported for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade.
Changes in the disciplinary policies are an effort by the district to reach higher achievement goals.