The Honorable FBISD Board of Trustees and Dr. Charles Dupre,

We are residents of The Lakes and Meadow Lakes subdivisions within First Colony. We are located directly off First Colony Boulevard between I-59 and State Highway 6. Our neighborhoods were part of the last newly developed homes within First Colony. Many of us are original home owners and long standing residents of the Sugar land area and our children have or are attending FBISD schools.

Our neighborhoods are currently zoned to Lakeview Elementary, First Colony Middle School, and Kempner High School. We believe that you will not find a more disparate feeder pattern in FBISD than what our neighborhood currently endures. The zoning and feeder pattern for our neighborhoods for over a decade has not been in the best interests we believe of FBISD as well as our children. To attend our current elementary school or high school we have to cross State Highway 6, Alt. 90, and the railroad tracks along Alternate 90. We are not even physically or socially connected to any of the other neighborhoods that attend these schools. Many of us refer to our neighborhood as an “island” in reference to the way our neighborhoods have been zoned. This is the case even though Colony Meadows Elementary and Clements High School are less than 5 minutes from our neighborhoods.

Over the years we have voiced our concerns to FBISD officials about our feeder pattern and school zoning and were told to be patient for when a district wide feeder pattern study would be completed. Thus, we were very excited to see this study undertaken this year.

In the meetings held in October and November, several proposals have been made for redefining the feeder pattern in FBISD. Almost all of the proposals made so far for the Clements Feeder Pattern (Scenario A, Scenario A Alternate and Scenario B) have been cognizant of our concerns and have zoned us with schools closest to our neighborhoods and immediate community, namely, Colony Meadows Elementary, Fort Settlement Middle School and Clements High School. We sincerely thank the Board for their sensitivity to our concerns and their efforts in addressing them.

All of these schools are within our fellow First Colony Neighborhoods, where we attend religious institutions, play on sports teams, attend academic and music classes, visit our public library, shop, and have lived for over 15 years. Our neighborhoods, therefore, wholeheartedly support these proposals.

However, during the November 17, 2014 board meeting, we were surprised to learn of a rezoning/boundary change proposal specifically targeting our neighborhood, which would rezone us to Colony Bend Elementary. This would once again push us away from the closest elementary school (Colony Meadow Elementary) and make us an “island” again. The average distance to Colony Meadows Elementary is about 1.2 miles, whereas the average distance to Colony Bend Elementary is about 3 miles. Our neighborhoods do not support this option as it again deprives our children of our neighborhood schools.

We, therefore, respectfully request either of the following in support of our children and neighborhoods.

1. Accept Scenario A or A Alternate Plan for the Clements Feeder Pattern. This will follow the recommendation for us to be zoned to Colony Meadows Elementary and subsequently follow the feeder pattern to Fort Settlement Middle School and Clements High School.

2. Accept Scenario B for the Clements Feeder pattern with the “Lakeview Triangle” zoning as previously recommended to Colony Meadows Elementary, Fort Settlement Middle School, and Clements High School and reject the proposed Scenario B rezoning/boundary change of the “Lakeview Triangle” to Colony Bend Elementary.

We thank you for taking the time to read and study our petition. Our sincere hope is to work with FBISD during this difficult and complex undertaking. We welcome the opportunity for Board Members and administration to contact us for additional information if necessary, or to have a meeting with our neighborhood representatives and help us in developing the best environment for our community and our children.

Sincerely,

Residents of The Lakes and Meadow Lakes

Contact:

Deepak Gidvani

[email protected]