LISD is planning to close one elementary school in Steiner Ranch and potentially close or consolidate either Canyon Ridge Middle School or Four Points Middle School. These closures would severely impact families throughout the Four Points area, including Steiner Ranch and River Place neighborhoods.

What’s Happening?

• Double School Closures: LISD plans to close one elementary school and potentially one middle school in the Four Points area.
• Forced Consolidation: Students would be rezoned to remaining schools, creating significant overcrowding at multiple levels.
• Elementary Impact: Young children would face longer commutes, larger class sizes, and disrupted educational environments.
• Middle School Strain: The remaining middle school would immediately exceed capacity by hundreds of students.
• Growing Communities: The Four Points area continues to grow, with Steiner Ranch (2.7% annual growth) and River Place (2.3% annual growth) both expanding.
• Unsustainable Plan: Our schools currently operate at healthy capacity levels that meet our communities’ needs.
• Behind Closed Doors: Despite community involvement for two years, major decisions appear to be predetermined with minimal transparency.

The Real Impact on Our Community: By the Numbers

• Severe Overcrowding: Consolidating to one middle school would create immediate overcapacity conditions of approximately 133%, growing to potentially 153% by 2030.
• Elementary Disruption: Closing an elementary school would force approximately 400-600 young students to relocate.
• Developmental Impacts: Research shows school transitions negatively affect academic performance, with elementary students experiencing an average 15% drop in test scores following relocation.
• Traffic Nightmare: Morning and afternoon traffic would increase by approximately 68% on RM 620 and RM 2222, adding 430+ vehicles during peak hours.
• Extended Commutes: Average student commute times would increase by 12+ minutes each way – that’s 24 additional hours per year spent in transit.
• Building Inadequacy: Remaining schools were not designed to accommodate the combined student populations.
• Property Devaluation: Research shows neighborhoods with closed schools typically see a 5-10% decline in property values.
• Community Fragmentation: Our neighborhood’s identity and cohesion depend on our schools as community hubs.

Why This Matters to Every Four Points Resident

Whether or not you have school-aged children, these closures will affect your daily life through:

• Increased traffic congestion with 430+ additional vehicles during school drop-off and pick-up times.
• Extended commute times for everyone using RM 620 and RM 2222 during peak hours.
• Potential 5-10% decrease in property values, affecting home equity across our neighborhoods.
• Loss of community gathering spaces and neighborhood identity.
• Elementary schools’ walkability and proximity – key factors in neighborhood desirability – would be eliminated.
• Setting a dangerous precedent for future closures and community disinvestment.
• Diminished community engagement, as schools serve as central gathering places for families.

We Have the Power to Stop This

Our community contributes approximately 50% of LISD’s tax revenue, giving us significant leverage. Other communities facing similar challenges have successfully preserved their schools through unified action.

What Would School Consolidation Mean?

Elementary School Closure Impacts:

• Young children (ages 5-11) would face longer commutes and unfamiliar environments.
• Class sizes would increase at remaining elementary schools by an estimated 20-25%.
• Siblings may be split between different schools, complicating family logistics.
• Special programs and resources would be stretched thin across fewer facilities.
• Parent involvement typically decreases by 30% when schools are not in close proximity to home.

If Canyon Ridge Middle School Closes:

• Students from Steiner Ranch would face longer commutes to Four Points Middle School.
• Traffic on RM 620 would significantly increase, especially at key intersections.
• The current Four Points facility would be severely overcrowded.

If Four Points Middle School Closes:

• River Place and surrounding area students would face longer commutes to Canyon Ridge.
• Traffic within Steiner Ranch and on connecting roads would significantly increase.
• The current Canyon Ridge facility would be severely overcrowded.

All scenarios create unnecessary hardships for students and families while diminishing our neighborhoods’ quality of life and educational excellence.

Join Our Efforts:

1. Sign Up for updates and action alerts
2. Attend our next community meeting on [DATE]
3. Share your story about what our neighborhood schools mean to you
4. Display a yard sign (available for pickup at [LOCATION])
5. Contact school board members with our unified message

Explore All Options

We’re investigating multiple paths forward, including:

• Working with LISD to find innovative solutions that keep all our schools open.
• Proposing creative uses for existing elementary capacity (like specialized programs, early childhood centers, or community education facilities).
• Exploring the formation of a new district alignment with neighboring communities.
• Supporting legal research into district detachment requirements and processes.
• Investigating micro-school models that maintain neighborhood elementary presence while addressing district concerns.

Get Involved Today

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Protecting our schools requires community-wide involvement now.