LHISD Trustees approve new attendance boundaries

BY SCOTT AKANEWICH STAFF WRITER

Approximately 600 elementary students will have new educational homes in the fall after the Liberty Hill Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved new attendance boundaries for the 2023-24 school year in April.

Superintendent Steve Snell was satisfied with the manner in which the map was adjusted.

“I thought it was a very good process overall,” he said. “One of the things I’m most proud of in Liberty Hill is how we value feedback from the community.”

Initially, a survey was sent out to parents across the district after a set of proposed boundaries was unveiled at the Board’s March meeting, one that received 420 replies.

The opening of Bar W Elementary in August was the catalyst for the changes, with an initial projected enrollment of 655 students, which is below the 800-student capacity.

However, despite the presence of the new school, Santa Rita Elementary will still have an estimated 928 students at the start of school, with that number expected to increase to 1,017 by next spring.

But, it won’t be much longer before relief will arrive with the addition of the district’s seventh elementary school, which will be located adjacent to Santa Rita Middle School and will open in August 2024.

In all, the district projects an elementary enrollment of 4,886 students by spring of 2024, which will be just over the capacity of 4,800.

According to Snell, as the area continues to grow with more and more homes constantly being built, it’s the district’s objective to monitor the progress of each development in order to gauge where the next schools will be needed and when.

“Everything depends on how quickly each neighborhood grows,” said Snell. “Right now, the Saddleback neighborhood north of Santa Rita is growing quickly, so the new school there will help relieve the pressure on Santa Rita Elementary.”

Not everything goes according to projections, though, he said.

“For example, we thought Bar W was going to grow much quicker than it has,” said Snell. “Which is why we stay in constant dialogue with the developers. However, what they do is subject to market conditions and they can pivot a lot quicker than we can.”

Along those ever-shifting lines, the Board also approved the purchase of a 13.27-acre parcel located in the Lariat subdivision that will be used for an elementary school at a cost of $1.15 million.

Snell said as more homes are built in both the Butler Farms and Lariat neighborhoods, more adjustments will be needed.

“What that will do is cause the western side of the district to shift east,” he said. “By then, we’ll have added elementary schools number eight and nine.”

Despite the forecast for growth over the past year, the actual number exceeded expectations, said Snell.

“We grew so fast last year – a 23.5 percent increase,” he said. “Our goal – as challenging as it may be – is to keep kids out of portables.”

Snell added the constantly shifting sands of Liberty Hill’s educational landscape creates a massive challenge – but one the district is intent on handling.

“When it comes to attendance boundaries, there is no perfect way to do this and we do the best we can,” he said. “We never want to have to move kids two years in a row.”