JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
Change is a constant reality for military children, who move an average of six to nine times during the time they are going to school from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Students of Joint Base San Antonio service members are no different from the average military child, having to deal with the constant challenges and stresses of transitioning from school to school as a part of military life.
But a portion of these military schoolchildren in the San Antonio area will be changing schools not because one of their parents is being transferred to a new duty location, it is because the neighborhood or area they live in is being placed into a new school attendance zone.
The JBSA Military Child Education Program-School Liaison Office, which serves the needs of 35,000-plus military connected students, K-12, who are enrolled in 28 school districts in the San Antonio area and within JBSA, provides resources and information to service members about the process school districts use to redraw school attendance lines.
Nita Ford-Hightower, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston School Liaison Office, said several area school districts are having to redraw their attendance boundaries because of a growing student population, the opening of new schools and to alleviate overcrowded classrooms in existing schools.
“With San Antonio being such a rapidly growing city, we’re having schools being built almost every year,” Ford-Hightower said. “What the districts don’t want is the overcrowding in the classrooms. They try to keep the classrooms small or at a reasonable size.”
Lori Phipps, JBSA-Lackland School Liaison Office, said school attendance boundaries are constantly changing and that members of the school liaison office notify incoming JBSA service members and their families about schools that could be rezoned in the future.
“We continue to educate our inbound military families as often as possible to ensure that situational awareness of the areas with potential attendance rezoning factors,” Phipps said. “We encourage our families to find a school first and a house second to alleviate the issue. However, moving into our largest districts the potential remains as they are opening up new schools annually to absorb the growth.”
The largest independent school districts in the San Antonio area Phipps is referring to are Northeast, Northside, Judson and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City, which are experiencing growth.
Phipps said each school district’s board of trustees is responsible for the process for redrawing school attendance boundaries. Typically, districts mail out notices of proposed school rezoning plans to affected parents and students or they will give the notices to children at school to take home.
Also, districts could post information on proposed redrawing of school attendance lines on their websites, newsletters that are distributed to the district’s residents and to the local news media.
Districts schedule public forums and hearings for parents and students to ask questions and express their viewpoints on proposed rezoning of school attendance lines. The dates and times are usually listed in notices and posted on the district’s website.
In most instances, proposed changes in school attendance lines are made by district administrators and/or recommended by a district advisory committee. Ultimately, the school board decides whether to approve, modify or reject any proposed school attendance boundaries.
“The districts do not take boundary changes lightly and do keep in perspective our military families and their transitions,” Phipps said.
If a neighborhood or area is placed into a new school attendance zone, Ford-Hightower said parents should talk to their prospective school district representatives if they have any questions or concerns.
In addition, parents can contact the JBSA School Liaison Office, which can help connect parents to the contacts and administrators they need to talk to at the new school their child will be attending.
Angela Green, JBSA-Randolph School Liaison Office, said service members and their families need to be proactive and contact the school liaison office to get the most up to date information on schools and school districts in the San Antonio area.
“Transitioning is stressful to begin with, but add in the size of footprint that our JBSA Community has and it becomes overwhelming sometimes,” Green said. “Our office can help ease that stress and provide resources and information to help make their dependent educational transfer successful."
Service members whose children are attending schools in the San Antonio area can contact the JBSA School Liaison Office at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston at 210-221-2256/2214; JBSA-Lackland at 210-671-8388; or JBSA-Randolph at 210-652-5321/3112.