Confusion about school districts (Houston, Dallas: for sale, real estate, 2013) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

deenie1 · 07-19-2013, 04:10 PM

Will someone help me with this as it pertains to Dallas? Realtors will list several schools and their distance from a given house for sale. Looking at the ratings, some might be rated more highly than others but be a mile or two further away. Of course each child is different but would I be able to send my child to a 10 school as opposed to an 8 school if it was a better fit? I read that Houston is a "district of choice" and children can attend another school as long as transportation is provided and there is room.

Rakin · 07-19-2013, 04:37 PM

School districts draw boundary lines estimating how many kids will go to a certain school. Every few years they review those lines and may redraw them if a school get's to crowded.

Normally you go the school in the area you live but that can change due to over crowding. Normally you do not get a choice which school your kids go to.

Edit: Once you are in one school district it does not change to become another school district. The changes or redrawing boundaries are all within a particular district.

SouthernBelleInUtah · 07-19-2013, 04:43 PM

And remember these are ISDs, Independent School Districts. Some cities have 2-3 ISDs covering their territory, some ISDs cover 3-4 cities. You just never know as the ISD does not follow city or county lines.

You may have a chance to transfer between different schools in the same ISD but not across ISD lines. Except for Forney, I think, where they are selling places for $10K as they have a lot of space for some reason. And if you manage to get a transfer, you will need to arrange for transportation. Transfers are usually only issued if the receiving school has room.

TurtleCreek80 · 07-19-2013, 04:57 PM

First, you need to use a real estate search engine that actually lists the ZONED schools, not like Zillow that just lists nearby schools. School districts are a bit confusing in DFW as they can and do cross city limits. For example, some homes in the cities of Dallas, Frisco, Murphy, and Parker are all zoned to Plano ISD. Some homes in Plano are zoned to Lewisville and Frisco schools. You can actually live 2 blocks from a school in one district, but your house is zoned to a school a mile away in your district.

If you are specifically interested in certain schools or ISD's, I recommend getting on their websites where boundary maps are published each year. Study the maps and only search for homes in those neighborhoods / streets. This will eliminate the disappointment of buying a home in the city with a namesake acclaimed district only to find out your home is zoned to the city next door's mediocre district. The onus is on you, the buyer, to verify schools.

Rakin · 07-19-2013, 05:30 PM

School district boundaries were laid out maybe 50-100 years ago so that kids out in the country knew where to go to school.

As cities grew, they created their own city limits which did not match school boundaries.
That's why a city like Coppell will have 3 school districts within it's city limits.

If you buy a home you better verify that it's in the district you want it in.
There have been many people who buy in an area like Coppell and discover afterward they are not in Coppell ISD.

Ooops.