Fort Bend ISD's Board of Trustees voted Monday, Oct. 5, to redraw high school and middle school boundaries, affecting about 1,700 students starting in 2027-28.

The board approved high school boundary scenario #1 and the sole middle school scenario, Fox 26 Houston reported. The high school plan moves about 1,050 students, primarily shifting some Elkins High School students to Clements High School to ease overcrowding. The middle school plan affects another 694 students by realigning elementary-to-middle school feeder patterns at 10 campuses. The district did not release the vote tally.

The district said the changes target overcrowding at Austin, Elkins and Travis high schools and reduce the number of schools that split students across multiple feeders, according to the district's boundary planning page.

For Missouri City families zoned to Elkins, the approved scenario is the smaller of two options the board considered. It does not rezone Quail Valley Middle School's attendance boundary to Dulles High School. That change was part of scenario #2, which was favored by a slim margin in a district survey but would have affected a larger number of students.

The district distributed 63,855 surveys ahead of the vote and received 2,685 responses, mostly from parents, Chief of Organizational Development Stephanie Williams said at an Oct. 2 board meeting, as reported by Community Impact. Elkins families submitted more than 700 responses, the most of any campus. Overall, 77% of respondents said they could support at least one scenario, while 22% opposed both. The School Boundary Advisory Committee backed the process, with 89% of its members saying they could accept either outcome.

Board President Kristin Tassin laid out her reasoning at the same Oct. 2 meeting. "We can't look at one or the other; we have to look at them collectively," Tassin said, referring to the competing goals of minimizing disruption and relieving overcrowded campuses.

The vote caps months of planning that began after the board approved elementary boundary changes in March 2026. The district also closed seven elementary schools at the end of the school year because of declining enrollment. Fort Bend ISD has since cut projected revenue by $15.2 million after enrollment fell below its revised estimate of 75,250 students, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Not all families agreed.

Aliana resident Emily Paulison told the board Sept. 29 that families in her neighborhood left the district after a prior rezoning. "If you go through with the current plan, the district is going to lose a lot more students," Paulison said, according to the Chronicle's Oct. 1 report.

Students already in high school or entering eighth grade may stay at their current campus under the new boundaries, but the district will not provide transportation, Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff Beth Martinez said.

District leaders said they will begin working with affected campuses and families on transition plans. The district has not announced a date for follow-up community sessions.