Leslie Gracia and her son moved to the Kingdom Heights neighborhood seven years ago due to the quality of the elementary school in the area.
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However, something recently happened she wasn't expecting.
"It's very upsetting," Gracia recalled. "I'm very disappointed by LCISD's lack of planning."
Because of overcrowding, Gracia said the district may split the neighborhood or make the kids go to a different school.
"We rely on each other for carpooling and support," Gracia explained. "All of those things, and I know a lot of our neighbors do too. That's why we choose this neighborhood to have a community and help each other out."
Gracia and other parents have asked school leaders to reconsider. School board member Jon Welch said it's not an easy decision.
"We're really trying to say, if we do this for you guys, of course, everybody over here is going to say, 'Why don't you do this for us? Why did you send us to that school," Welch said.
The dilemma is caused by the district's rapid growth, a topic that was discussed at this week's board meeting.
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In 2020, the enrollment was 36,345, and this year, it's risen to 44,385.
Projections indicate that in five years, enrollment will soar to 55,100, and by 2033, it could reach 65,741.
To accommodate this growth, the district is building 13 new schools, which will open over the next four years.
However, Welch, who said he could only speak for himself and not the board, said previous leaders should've done more.
"In my opinion, [they] should have anticipated more of this growth and put more money in the bonds to buy land," Welch explained. "If we had a land bank right now, it would be a lot easier to build schools."
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A district spokesperson said previous administrations did the best they could with the information they had.
To avoid the mistake again, Welch explained taxpayers will need to approve bonds. This comes after taxpayers approved nearly $2 billion in bonds for the district over the past few years.
If voters reject the bonds, Welch said they'll have to eye temporary structures and move students around.
"Switching kids back and forth to different schools, moving them around getting different teachers, different principals, different administrators, different friends, it's really hard on them," Gracia explained.
Something Gracia said she never envisioned when she moved into her home, but it's a reality because so many others are moving to the area too.
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