Adding between 2,500 – 3,500 new students to the district each year, the Frisco ISD is one of the fastest growing school districts in the country. Leading the way for the district is Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Lyon. With four new schools opening this year, along with as many as eight more  schools opening in the next two years, Lyon is overseeing the district in the midst of unprecedented growth.

Recently Wingspan sat down with Dr. Lyon to discuss things here on campus and the state of the district, along with future rezoning issues in this exclusive interview.

Wingspan: In 2015, Liberty alone had 14 National Merit Semi-Finalists, while the rest of the district had 12 combined. In addition, our Academic UIL team placed second overall at the State UIL Meet. With these kinds of distinctions, we were wondering what your opinion about Liberty was and what you attribute these things to?

Dr. Lyon: “Well, you’ve just cited two, I mean, Liberty is an extraordinary school. And it’s extraordinary because of the students, and the teachers, and the administrators, and the parents. They work together so well. A student who attends Liberty High School is getting, truly, a world-class education in an amazing environment. We don’t take that for granted. We want that same environment at every one of our schools, and we work very diligently on that. One of the things, that’s important to keep in context about this is that it is not a competition of winners and losers, and we’re all in this together. And so, when we look at one high school versus another high school, we look at it in terms of how are we doing providing the resources and opportunities for our students, knowing that every student in our district needs and deserves that same set of opportunities. With that said, Liberty is an amazing place and you guys are doing an amazing job out there.”

Wingspan: In the interest of Liberty students and with new schools opening,  would the opening of Lebanon Trail or Memorial impact the zoning for Liberty at all? With Independence opening a few years ago, it’s a common concern for students as they come into Liberty, especially with Liberty being overcrowded.

Lyon: “It is very much, and should be, a concern for students. We are going to have to go in and look at the Liberty attendance zone and do some adjustments when we open Lebanon Trail. So, what that means is that parents and our community need to be dialed in pretty tightly to this process. There are four things that are going to happen in a monthly sequence this fall, and each one of them is very important. We are going to hold a public forum, probably in late September, early October, about what rezoning is. That will definitely impact Liberty eventually in regards to learning about what rezoning is all about in our community. Then, in October, we will present to our school board the first rezoning map. That’s when everyone gets the shot where they say, “Oh my gosh, I am no longer assigned to Liberty” or “I’m reassigned to Independence,” or whatever it is. That comes in October, at the regular school board meeting. And then in November, at the school board meeting, we take parent and student input. Students can come and sign up. We had students sign up when we opened Independence. Students really understand what it means, so there’s an opportunity there. In December, at the regular meeting, the board makes the decision on the boundaries. We have a great video online about the opening of Independence. It’s hard, but we work really had to make sure that all of our high schools are high quality and have the same resources. This is kind of what we do. We are one of the fastest growing school districts in the nation and we always caution parents who move to Frisco that rezoning is probably going to touch you at some point. It will touch Liberty this fall, for sure.”

FISD Communications: Along those same lines, what would you tell to Liberty students or families in general, to reassure them about this process? In terms of, maybe they do end up at different schools, what will that look like? What will that mean for them? And how would you reassure them through a transition like that?

Dr. Lyon: “We rezone probably six to eight schools every year, for one reason or another. Whether it’s a new school opening or an existing school that needs some sort of tweak on the boundaries, what parents and students need to understand is that it’s going to be okay. It’s kind of this paradox though. Everything we do builds allegiance to a school, but right in the middle of that, sometimes we rezone. So, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s hard, it’s difficult, but we know that the educational opportunities are going to be the same at both facilities and both campuses.”

WINGSPAN: That was my last official question, but if you had any other statements you wanted to make to the Liberty students. You just mentioned reassurances, but anything else you wanted to say before the beginning of school.

Dr. Lyon: “What I would say to the student body at Liberty and to all of our students in the entire school district is a reminder to them that they are part of a generation that is challenged to fix a lot of the problems that my generation has created on this planet and in this world. And when you really start looking at generational studies, what we learn is that the generation of students at Liberty, and across our district are an extraordinary group of young men and women. They do incredible acts of service, they have compassion, they have kindness, they have leadership skills that are amazing. From a leadership standpoint and the school district, our job and my job is to facilitate, celebrate, and reinforce those characteristics that are really going to change the world. When I think about Liberty High School, I think about a school full of tomorrow’s leaders, full of young men and women who are going to go forward, and whatever they do, do it well and really carry this thing forward. So, that’s our goal, that’s our mission, and we’re very proud of Liberty High School.”