Up to 1,561 Fort Bend ISD students could change schools under a boundary plan headed for a board vote Monday, Oct. 5.

The Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees will decide between two scenarios to relieve overcrowding at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Austin High School in Sugar Land and Travis High School in Richmond. The vote is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the district's administration building, 16431 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land.

The first option would move about 1,050 students from Elkins to Clements High School. The second would affect 1,561 students by rezoning Quail Valley Middle School's feeder area to Dulles High School and shifting part of Elkins' zone to Clements, Community Impact reported. Option 2 provides more relief to Elkins, according to the district's website.

Both scenarios affect seven campuses across the district.

Survey: 77% back at least one option

Fort Bend ISD sent 63,855 surveys and received 2,685 responses, mostly from parents, according to Chief of Organizational Development Stephanie Williams. Elkins families led the response, with more than 700 submissions.

Overall, 77% of respondents said they could support at least one scenario. Twenty-two percent opposed both. Among respondents in affected feeder areas, scenario two was preferred over scenario one, though by no more than five percentage points.

Travis High School drew the strongest pushback. About half of Travis-area respondents opposed both options.

In open-ended responses, parents most often cited concern about breaking up student friend groups and not attending the same school as neighbors. The next most common worry was unbalanced campus utilization under the proposed plans, Williams said.

Advisory committee comfortable with either scenario

The School Boundary Advisory Committee, a group of community members who review boundary proposals with the district, voted after studying the survey results. Eighty-nine percent of committee members said they would be comfortable with whichever high school scenario the board approves.

Board President Kristin Tassin addressed the tension between minimizing disruption and solving overcrowding at a Friday, Oct. 2 meeting. "While, yes, a stated goal is to impact the fewest students we can possibly impact, another stated goal is to provide relief to the campuses that need relief," Tassin said.

What it means for current students

If the board approves boundary changes, they would take effect for the 2027-28 school year. Current high school students and those entering eighth grade could choose to stay at their current campus, but the district would not provide transportation for students who opt to remain, a district official said at an Aug. 28 presentation.

The middle school portion of the plan touches 10 campuses and aims to reduce feeder-pattern splits. Right now, 14 elementary schools feed into more than one middle school and 11 middle schools split into more than one high school. Under the proposal, those numbers would drop to eight and seven. No schools would close as part of the process, district officials said in an Aug. 18 press release, as Houston Public Media reported.