Memorial High School - SBISD Rezoning? (Houston, Spring: low income, apartment complexes, new home)

[bassmaster44]

For the past few years, I've heard that MHS is at maximum capacity (approx. 2600 students). Developers are shoehorning in a number of new apartment complexes within the current boundaries and this will only exascerbate the overcrowding at the school. There are rumors of either expanding the current facilities to handle the additional students or possibly rezoning the school. Does anyone have any information on this topic?

[LizzySWW]

Historically, SBISD rarely changes attendance boundaries. There's plenty of room to expand the campus, but before doing that, we'd hear all about it for years beforehand. It's not on the table at this time.

From my experience, parents worried about rezoning at MHS are generally living in apartments and I understand their concern. When the school was rezoned years back, the map was drawn in favor of homeowners (specifically very expensive homes). The current map is telling, it shows how they included the best homes north of I-10 and cut out apartments & low income homes. I'd expect any future rezoning to follow suit.

[shelbypercy]

LizzySWW-
I heard a similar rumor today regarding the redevelopment of the former Spring Branch High School (presently Cornerstone Academy MS, Academy of Choice HS, Reggie Grob Stadium). I was told SBISD plans on using a portion of the Cornerstone/AOC/Grob redeveloped campus (I believe construction starts this summer/fall) as the temporary campus for Memorial High School when it starts its redevelopment/rebuild. Once the MHS campus is redone, they would rezone MHS and all current North of I-10 students would go to Spring Branch HS campus. Do you have any knowledge of such plans? Thanks.

[gwarnecke]

I heard a similar rumor. Considering how rapidly neighborhoods north of I10 zoned to MHS have been redeveloping, while non-MHS neighborhoods sit stagnant by comparison - such a decision would ruffle some feathers. Dozens if not 100s of $800k+ homes have been built in the last five years, on the expectation that the residents will be attending MHS.

[EasilyAmused]

There's always some rumor going around. I also heard that they will go back to rezoning west of Gessner to Stratford. The fact is MHS is at above capacity, so something will be done. What actually will happen hasn't been announced.

Remember, there used to be a third High School for the South side, Westchester, when the neighborhoods were full of kids in the 1980s. That school produced the record of the most National Merit Scholars in a year for Houston.

[marksmu]

One of the largest, if not THE largest driver of SBISD success is its wealthy demographics and its excellent school district. Without the schools, it would be much more like Bellaire or the Heights....about half as desirable as it currently is. Property values of the $2M-$5M homes would be decimated, and the district as a whole would take in much less money if you zoned in more low income kids as the wealthy folks would leave and send their kids to private schools in much greater numbers than they do now.

Apartments love capitalizing on the backs of homeowners in this regard. They can put 500 kids in the same footprint of a high rise apartment that would otherwise be 3 or 4 houses max. Its not sustainable at the rate that apartments are being built....The wealth of the demographics, and the fact that wealthier people tend to value education more, is what has built up the value of the area. Destroying that by allowing lots of apartments or lower income homes is shooting yourself in the foot.

While I don't know what the district will actually do I am certain that the district recognizes that property values are what brings in tax revenue, which is what funds the schools, and by zoning lower income people & apartments to their historically best schools they will actually reduce their income. Public schools always want more cash, so I expect that they will work to protect their income.

[Spartacus713]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

I heard a similar rumor. Considering how rapidly neighborhoods north of I10 zoned to MHS have been redeveloping, while non-MHS neighborhoods sit stagnant by comparison - such a decision would ruffle some feathers. Dozens if not 100s of $800k+ homes have been built in the last five years, on the expectation that the residents will be attending MHS.

There would be lawsuits out the "ying-yang."

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by Spartacus713

There would be lawsuits out the "ying-yang."

School districts are allowed to rezone any time they please. In addition to that as a public entity they are generally immune from lawsuits....There are some guidelines set by the state that prohibit zoning based on race, and other protected classes, etc, but districts have been quite successful at getting around those problems.

A lawsuit by a new homeowner who suddenly found themselves zoned to another school in their district that was not their first choice would most likely be baseless and tossed out. It happens frequently, and people get mad, people lose some money, but the lines are almost never redrawn (I say almost b/c I don't know that it has not happened, I am just not aware of it having happened)

[Spartacus713]

Originally Posted by marksmu

School districts are allowed to rezone any time they please. In addition to that as a public entity they are generally immune from lawsuits....There are some guidelines set by the state that prohibit zoning based on race, and other protected classes, etc, but districts have been quite successful at getting around those problems.

A lawsuit by a new homeowner who suddenly found themselves zoned to another school in their district that was not their first choice would most likely be baseless and tossed out. It happens frequently, and people get mad, people lose some money, but the lines are almost never redrawn (I say almost b/c I don't know that it has not happened, I am just not aware of it having happened)

People would be infuriated in this case. They would lose lots of money, as those homes on the North of I-10 include a pretty large valuation component that is attributable to their zoning in Memorial High School, which is one of the very best public schools in the state of Texas.

Spring Branch High School on the other hand, is nothing of the sort. Most of the people with kids in these high-end homes would be highly reluctant to send their children to Spring Branch High School.

It is hard to imagine the howl of rage that would ensue if this decision were to be made.

[LocalPlanner]

Seems to me that the primary function of a school district is to educate children, regardless of income level. What exactly is wrong with apartment children going to MHS? (And the newer apartments aren't exactly full of lower-income people in the Memorial area.)

To what extent should a school district be liable for market value of single family homes? If a school is overcrowded, it has to rezone. Why should it be hamstrung by some whiny homeowners who paid big bucks for their home on the gamble that it would stay zoned to a certain school? Let alone by realtors who specialize in a certain neighborhood and whose commissions would go down if home prices dropped.

Again this all comes down to whether it's okay or not for more affluent kids to share classrooms with less affluent ones. But that's about EDUCATION, not about property values. Are there good reasons, educationally, why the two can't be mixed? Is Stratford HS doing a bad thing by serving both a working-class and a high-income population?