Board members unanimously approved the district’s second option for elementary school attendance zones and its proposal for new high school attendance zones at their meeting Tuesday at Denton High School.

 ALSO ONLINE

  2009-10 Elementary School Attendance Zones

  2009-10 High School Attendance Zones

While some parents have been upset about the zoning changes for various reasons, only those from the Braewood neighborhood showed up to speak out at the public forums for a third option for elementary attendance zones.

They wanted their children to remain at Hawk Elementary School, rather than be sent to L.A. Nelson Elementary School.

Among those parents were Natalie Bolinger, Traci Frittz and Amy Burgess.

Bolinger said that they gathered almost 200 signatures in a petition against the changes.

“We live so close to Hawk, and the thought of both our children being able to walk or ride their bikes to school once they get old enough was one of the reasons we chose our location. With that being said, the thought of them being bused to a school that is almost double the distance is very disheartening to me while there are other neighborhoods that are being bused into Hawk Elementary,” Bolinger told board members before the vote.

While Teasley Lane is one of her concerns, Frittz told board members that Brae­wood residents are more worried about their children crossing FM2499, which will be widened in the future.

“Once 2499 is completed, it will be coming up between our subdivision and Wheeler Ridge. We are the only subdivisions affected by this. Nobody else is being asked to move schools and deal with this combination,” said Frittz.

“We are part of the Hawk community,” Burgess told the board. “I have five kids right now, and I would like to see all of them be able to walk or ride their bikes to school. If they are sent to L.A. Nelson, they will never get to do that because I will be too scared to send any of my children that way.”

“We have not gotten heard. That ‘Pecan Creek’ is yelled so loud and [they have] made their voice so known that we just become this small, little area that has just been pushed aside,” Burgess said.

School board President Char­les Stafford said that each board member looked into all the scenarios and studied all the facts before the vote.

“We have done our due diligence. We have consulted the experts. We cannot please all the people all the time,” said board member Curtis Ramsey.

He said that board members must take into consideration the school district’s whole population over the course of 25 to 35 years, while parents may only be considering their one child over the course of the next three to five years.

School board member Glenna Harris was appreciative that the attendance zone issues encouraged parents to gather facts that affect their children’s education.

A couple of Oakmont residents, whose children will still attend Pecan Creek Elementary School, expressed appreciation during the open forums to the board and the district for hearing their concerns and considering the second option over the first pro­posal.

The changes won’t take effect until August 2009.

District officials have said that they needed to go ahead and draw up new elementary school attendance zones with the early opening of Stephens Elementary School in Shady Shores.

They decided to address all other school zones for that year, as well, in establishing new high school zones, which district officials say is needed to alleviate crowding at Guyer High School.

The new elementary attendance zones will affect L.A. Nel­son, Hawk, Pecan Creek, Rivera, Lee and Hodge elementary schools.

In the approved option, all students in the Oakmont area currently assigned to Pecan Creek will remain at that school, as op­posed to going to Stephens.

Also, a group of students in the Providence Place apartment com­plex who currently attend Hodge will instead be bused to Stephens. Under the original proposal, they would have gone to Pecan Creek.

Gene Holloway, director of transportation, recently said the change affects fewer students.

In addition, Holloway said the Providence Place students would be traveling half the distance they currently do to Hodge by going to Stephens.

The changes to the high school attendance zones affect the three main high schools.

District officials stuck with the high school proposal despite vocal opposition at previous meetings from parents about their children being moved from Guyer High School to either Denton or Ryan high schools.

District spokeswoman Sharon Cox has said officials studied the parents’ objections at length but couldn’t find any other way to solve the problem of crowding at Guyer.

The changes to the high school attendance zones will not affect students who will be sophomores, juniors and seniors for the 2009-10 school year.

Only incoming freshmen for 2009-10 — students who are now seventh-graders — in the zones previously assigned to Guyer are required to attend their corresponding schools, unless they are granted a transfer.

AMY DODD THOMPSON can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is athompson@dentonrc.com .