New Rule in Prosper ISD for School Year 2017/18

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by mSooner

What's crazy is I remember when they closed an elementary school (Now New Tech High) due to low enrollment. Even in established neighborhoods there has been a boom in new young families. On our street, we have seen 5 families with elementary school age kids move in and replace older homeowners since we moved here 5 years ago.

How things change!

Same thing in HPISD. The district is the exact same geographic size as it's always been, but today's graduating classes are in the 500 range whereas when I graduated in the 1990's, they were in the low 300's. Empty nesters have been cashing out in droves and families with 2-4 school aged kids are buying those homes. Plus, SMU's new rule as of 5ish years ago requiring all freshmen AND sophomores to live on campus opened up a lot of multifamily housing in the district that college students used to rent.

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by TXNGL

Is that unusual? Just asking because when my child attended a DISD school we had to prove residency for our neighborhood school with a utility bill.

That's what I'm wondering. Was I the only one that read the OP and thought "isn't that normal? Why would they accept someone into their district if you don't actually live in it yet?"

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by stephwin

That's what I'm wondering. Was I the only one that read the OP and thought "isn't that normal? Why would they accept someone into their district if you don't actually live in it yet?"

All districts used to let you enroll your children if you had a building contract for a new house, to help you avoid changing schools twice or in middle of an academic year but with current budget cuts many school districts are struggling, they don't want to let you in until you start paying rent or property tax.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

All districts used to let you enroll your children if you had a building contract for a new house, to help you avoid changing schools twice or in middle of an academic year but with current budget cuts many school districts are struggling, they don't want to let you in until you start paying rent or property tax.

Also, some people will go under contract with a builder then cancel the contract just to get their kids in that district.

[mSooner]

Is that unusual? Just asking because when my child attended a DISD school we had to prove residency for our neighborhood school with a utility bill.

In Coppell it's now a utility bill AND your HUD or signed rental agreement.

And they are definitely enforcing it! When I went to enroll my daughter for Kindergarten, the front office staff firmly reminded a father signing his child in that their lease was up and they needed to bring in a new one ASAP.

[platon20]

The reason Prosper is in this mess is because they make it incredibly difficult for new businesses to open. Prosper has one of the lowest business to resident ratios of any city in the metroplex. Many businesses want to open in Prosper but due to stupid regs were forced to look in Celina or elsewhere.

With such a low business tax base, there are no funds for new teachers or schools. Light Farms elementary was at 150% enrollment within 12 calendar months of opening.

As long as Prosper continues to be anti-business, this problem will persist. There are 2 ways to pay for schools/teachers -- business taxes and property taxes. Prosper already has sky high property taxes.

[unknown00]

I'm confused - why would you want a builder's contract to be valid for school enrollment?

If you currently rent there, you are established so this rule wouldn't affect you. If you are planning to move there and currently live in another city, you what want to do a daily commute for your kids and inconvenience yourself?

[MileHi]

Originally Posted by unknown00

I'm confused - why would you want a builder's contract to be valid for school enrollment?

If you currently rent there, you are established so this rule wouldn't affect you. If you are planning to move there and currently live in another city, you what want to do a daily commute for your kids and inconvenience yourself?

We moved to DFW last summer while home was under construction in Prosper (was suppose to be done in May but delayed) and couldn't find a right sized apartment with short term lease in Prosper, so we rented briefly in Frisco (not Prosper ISD) until house was completed in October. Rules in effect then allowed us to do that no problem with house contract, and commute daily to Prosper HS was no issue. Under the new rules we wouldn't have been able to do that.

[unknown00]

Originally Posted by MileHi

We moved to DFW last summer while home was under construction in Prosper (was suppose to be done in May but delayed) and couldn't find a right sized apartment with short term lease in Prosper, so we rented briefly in Frisco (not Prosper ISD) until house was completed in October. Rules in effect then allowed us to do that no problem with house contract, and commute daily to Prosper HS was no issue. Under the new rules we wouldn't have been able to do that.

Understood, so seems like you have a choice -

1. Inconvenience yourself now and make the daily drive commute it Propser ISD while you are not living there
2. Inconvenience yourself later and have your child switch schools after you move in

[MileHi]

Originally Posted by unknown00

Understood, so seems like you have a choice -

1. Inconvenience yourself now and make the daily drive commute it Propser ISD while you are not living there
2. Inconvenience yourself later and have your child switch schools after you move in

Yep, we chose option #1 last year. Now it isn't an option at all.