The school board will announce the final attendance zone decision for Lebanon Trail High School at its meeting Monday night. The decision has been criticized by some members of the community for splitting up family members and moving students from current schools, a problem that occurs every time the district opens up a new campus.

“I know that rezoning in the FISD district is necessary due to the growth and the fact that FISD is working to maintain the small school model but there needs to be a policy change when it comes to rezoning families who have children already established at a high school and have siblings,” parent Staci Widner said via email. “There are families that may not have an issue with their children attending different high schools – and that’s what works for their family. That does not work for my family and for many others.”

Widner’s two sons will attend two different high schools according to current redistricting standards, her eighth grader will attend Lebanon Trail while her freshman, Austin Widner will continue on at Liberty. With her two children attending different schools and being involved in numerous activities, Widner has concerns about being able to take her sons to separate schools at different times in the day, while still having a job herself.

“Having them at two different high schools may mean that some activities will have to end,” Widner said. “They like to be involved in their school community and have done so since elementary school. How do you tell one child that their event/sport/activity isn’t as important as their brother’s or sister’s?”

However, the school board did implement a few changes recently at a school rezoning workshop on Dec. 1 in response to parental concern about having to cross notoriously busy Preston Road to get to Lebanon Trail. Those students will now be kept at their current school, Frisco High School.

“I was surprised and impressed with how much they valued our feedback,” parent Stephanie Hall said in an interview with Dallas Morning News. “They were eager to meet with us and hear us.”

After months of debate and meetings to determine these boundary lines, the final school board meeting will announce the district’s final decision on the matter Monday night.

“We rezone probably six to eight schools every year, for one reason or another. Whether it’s a new school 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,” FISD Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Lyon said in an exclusive interview with Wingspan in August. “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.”