Following the recent vote on Lamar Consolidated School District’s Bond issue, the Garden Club of Richmond gathered at Long Acres Ranch to listen to Dr. Jon Maxwell, Executive Director of Enrollment Management, explain why the Bond was so important for the students of LCISD and the communities they come from.
His department monitors enrollment of campuses every day.
At this time 5 campuses are on the watch list for overcrowding.
Our district covers relatively 385 square miles and encompasses 15 government entities. We are the fastest growing school district in Texas with Fulshear being the fastest growing city in the United States.
With all the new development scheduled, the school district is looking at the building of 58,485 homes with .55 kids per home resulting in 28000 children to plan for.
The new schools will help, but they are looking at rezoning to new schools and repurposing aging buildings. Beasley, for example, with its enrollment of approximately 350 students but is projected to be 854, could be helped by rezoning.
Another issue is the aging out of neighborhoods, so rezoning is a solution for the proper enrollment use of the schools.
Dr. Maxwell empathized with parents whose children are rezoned, but he emphasized that children are resilient.
Often the students meet up again at their secondary school and they have two sets of friends.
Only 42% of our district is built out, so as they look at building the new schools, they are also aware that businesses are needed in the areas to help with the tax base.
Bedroom communities leave the burden strictly on the homeowners.
Of course apartments and trailer parks yield a significant amount of students to add in.
Questions were asked. Could the district be split?
His answer was never say never, but the process would be very difficult and long.
What happens now with the football stadium?
He said the unsafe areas would continue to be roped off as the stadium ages.
The bond was the only way they could repair and keep the cost down.
The on campus practice fields are not up to rest room code for holding the games on campus and would also need renovation.
Lastly, Dr. Maxwell said they are in need of volunteers for Innovation Day.
While teachers have a time to prepare grades and other necessities, the volunteers would give students the knowledge and the why of life skills such as finance, gardening, vehicle maintenance, etc.
Also, he informed the club the district is accepting suggestions for naming the new schools.
His department can be contacted by email at EnrollmentManagement@ LCISD.com or by phone at 832-223-0424.
After the program, Dr. Maxwell joined the ladies for a lunch of Sandy McGee cheese soup, chicken and pimento cheese canapés, fruit and vegetable trays, a cheese ball, and assorted desserts.
Hostesses who provided the refreshments were Vona Morefield and her co-hostesses Peggy Jobes, Carol Edwards, Stephanie Johnston, Pam Scarborough, and Sandy Scott.
A beautiful arrangement of autumn colored roses, mums, and snapdragons centered the serving table.
Emily Scherer, president of the garden club, opened the November meeting thanking the hostesses and speaker. New members, Laura Benes and Laura Thompson, were introduced. Items brought up in the meeting were the email account established for the caladium fundraiser (gardenclubcaladiums@ gmail. com), the birdhouses to be installed tin the anniversary garden, and the field trip payments due and inclusion of non-club members in the trip.
The annual Christmas social will be held in December in lieu of the meeting.
Dr. Jon Maxwell, executive director of enrollment management for Lamar Consolidated ISD, shared details on LCISD’s explosive growth.
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