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Plano ISD staff to recommend Mendenahall zoning change
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
Overcrowding at Mendenhall Elementary is prompting Plano ISD staff members to recommend the school board adjust zoning boundaries to allow some of the campus' students to attend Memorial Elementary School.
The plan, which will be recommended to the board at the April board meeting, will absorb the neighborhood that runs from P Avenue to Jupiter Road and from 17th Street to just south of Overglen Drive into the Memorial zone. An additional area, running from 14th to 17th between Jupiter Road and R Avenue, will also be absorbed into the zone.
"We really have a problem with overcrowding at Mendenhall Elementary," said Steve Fortenberry, associate superintendent for business and facilities services, at Monday's board meeting. "When I visited Mendenhall back in fall, one of the things I asked [Principal] Karen Noble was, 'What are these kids doing in the hallway?' Well, they were being pulled out because there was nowhere to put these kids."
"The situation's not going to get any better," Fortenberry said. "You have the smaller classes rolling out and the larger classes rolling in."
At 436 students, Memorial is well under its 615-student functional capacity and is expected to continue to remain stable for the next 10 years and therefore will be able to absorb the additional students, Fortenberry said.
Current fourth-graders in the affected area will be allowed to stay at Mendenhall, and current sixth- and seventh-graders will remain at Otto Middle School with provided transportation.
The students transferring to Memorial will ultimately attend the same high schools and senior highs but attend Bowman Middle School instead of Otto.
"Bowman Middle School is right there at the corner of Park and Jupiter, so it really does make their middle school closer in location for those kids that are now going to Memorial, because Mendenhall goes to Otto," said Superintendent Richard Matkin.
To view a map of the area and boundaries, visit www.scntx.com/pdf/Mendenhall.pdf. Outlined in blue is the area that will transition from the Mendenhall Elementary School attendance zone to the Memorial Elementary School attendance zone. The current Memorial zone is outlined in red.
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