The Goose Creek Board of Trustees voted on Monday, May 18 to divide Pumphrey Elementary School students between Travis, Carver and Harlem elementary schools next year.
“Option 4,” as approved by the Board, widens the current attendance zones for those three elementary schools to include the students of Pumphrey Elementary, which is closing at the end of the school year.
Under the Option 4 attendance zones, roughly speaking, Pumphrey students who reside in Baker Road apartments, the Craigmont subdivision, Lantern Park and Village Lane Apartments will now attend Travis Elementary School.
Pumphrey students who reside in Quail Hollow homes will attend Harlem Elementary.
Pumphrey students who reside in Country Club I and II, Country Club Estates, Decker Road apartments, Garth Road and Quail Hollow apartments will attend Carver Elementary.
Pumphrey teachers and staff members are also being reassigned to other Goose Creek schools, but most will follow Pumphrey students to their new schools.
In addition to new attendance zones, portable classrooms will be added to each school taking in Pumphrey students. Under Option 4, Carver will need eight portable classrooms, Harlem will need four portables classrooms, and Travis will need eight portable classrooms to handle the influx of students.
With the addition of portable classrooms, Travis Elementary will grow from its current enrollment of 761 to 969, Harlem will add 101 students for an enrollment of 910, and Carver will increase its enrollment from 761 to 902. Student enrollment figures are based on estimates and could shift up or down some by fall.
The decision on new attendance zones comes seven weeks after the Board voted to close Pumphrey Elementary School at the end of the school year. The closing of the 39-year-old elementary school and West Town complex follows a risk-analysis study of the two sites situated between two aging pipeline corridors.
The risk-analysis study commissioned by the district concluded that should an incident — such as a leak or rupture — occur to a pipeline near the school or complex, there is a potential that students and/or staff could be injured or worse.
After reviewing data and looking at possible sites in the district, the Goose Creek CISD administration realized that it could not relocate Pumphrey Elementary students and staff in one location because of classroom space requirements and support services needs such as a gymnasium, cafeteria, and parking.
Thus, to resolve this issue, the district administration recommended to the Board of Trustees the formation of a committee to revise the Pumphrey attendance zones to other elementary campuses.
Option 4 was one of two recommendations sent to the Board from a committee comprised of parents, administrators and elementary principals charged with rezoning Pumphrey Elementary School students. The other option, which the Board rejected, would have added Lamar Elementary to the mix.
Every effort was made to rezone students based on keeping neighborhoods and families together. The district will provide transportation for all Pumphrey students to their new campuses.
Pumphrey Elementary School opened in 1971 on Fairway Drive. Today, the school is home to some 474 students and 67 staff members.
The school is named for a longtime teacher and school administrator, Jessie Lee Pumphrey, who had been principal at Lorenzo De Zavala (known as the Mexican School) from 1928 to 1965. The original De Zavala at Cypress and Magnolia streets in old Baytown was closed in 1965.
Pumphrey Elementary School marked the first time that an elementary in Goose Creek CISD had been named for a local individual.
A comprehensive guide to the rezoning changes can be viewed at the District website (www.gccisd.net).
See map and descriptions
May 19th Letter to Parents
Pumphrey Elementary School
Questions Presented to Board Members
Letter From Carl Burg
Questions Presented
Comment Cards