Allen ISD parents protest attendance realignment of elementary schools
ALLEN, Texas - Allen ISD gave parents a better look at a rezoning plan that would affect thousands of elementary school students.
Parents are still not happy about the plans and still believe they're being left out of the conversation.
Parents got a look at how multiple schools will be impacted next year if the plan is approved. They wanted to speak out publicly about the proposed plans. Instead, Allen ISD asked parents to write down their comments.
The district is considering making changes to where students attend elementary school. A proposed realignment would likely close some schools and re-purpose others.
RELATED: Parents upset over Allen ISD's rezoning plans
Hundreds of Allen ISD parents filled an auditorium Thursday evening waiting to get their first look at how the district wants to rezone elementary schools.
The main issue is that the schools on the west side are at risk of overcrowding, and schools on the east side aren’t full enough.
Part of the plan includes closing and repurposing two east-side schools: Anderson and Rountree elementaries.
"There hasn’t been enough transparency," said parent Holly Barnard. "We’ve gone through all the previous board meetings, and Anderson was never mentioned on time," said parent Holly Barnard.
Thursday morning, a group of parents marched outside Anderson and held signs pushing for the plan to be stopped.
They complain traffic will increase, and kids will have to travel farther to get to school.
"Where did we go wrong here?" Barnard said. "We’ve known this overcrowding issue has gone on for a very long time."
The district’s proposal would affect about 2,000 elementary school students, and students all over the city will be shuffled around.
But Anderson and Rountree are affected the most. All students will be moved to different schools.
None of the elementary students will be moved "across the interstate," but some will have to travel to different neighborhoods.
"We do think it should be delayed if nothing else. They told us yesterday they have been planning this for ten years," said parent Michelle Boren.
Parents hoped to speak in the auditorium during Thursday night’s public input session. Instead, they were broken into small groups and were told to write their comments down.
"I think it’s very disappointing," Boren said. "Why have a community input meeting when you are not going to take community input."
It is not a done deal. There will be another public session and then the presentation to the board. A final vote would be on Nov. 28.
If it goes through, the changes would happen next school year.