Parents in the Comal ISD are invited to attend informational school boundary meetings on Dec. 4 at Smithson Valley Middle School, or Dec. 5 at Spring Branch Middle School. Both meetings begin at 7 p.m. in the schools’ cafeterias.

There are several boundary changes for 2008-09 and 2009-10 that the school board initially approved in February 2006 and reviewed again this October. The boundary changes are based on standards adopted by the school board in 2005 as it prepared for Bond 2005. Those standards are:

• Grade alignments for Comal ISD schools will be Pre-K-fifth, sixth-eighth, and ninth-12th;

• School capacities will be 824 (elementary); 1,298 (middle); and, 2,575 (high);

• Pure feeder patterns will be a priority (students move together from elemen-tary.>middle>high).

In addition, as boundaries are identified, district administration has to keep other factors in mind — balancing schools’ enrollments, staying ahead of the growth, travel routes, time on bus, and, sustainability of boundary changes over time.

The following are highlights of the boundary changes as compared to the current boundaries. (High school boundaries are not changing.)

2008-2009

• Timberwood Park Elementary Opens (Pre-K-fifth) — Specht Elementary’s (Pre-K-fifth) boundaries change

• Morningside Elementary Opens (PK-5th) — Comal Elementary’s boundaries change

• Arlon Seay Intermediate becomes AS Elementary (Pre-k-fifth) — Fifth-graders return to their elementary schools at Bill Brown, Rahe Bulverde, and Specht. Bill Brown’s and Rahe Bulverde’s boundaries change.

• Mt. Valley Middle School Opens (sixth-eighth) — Smith-son Valley Middle School’s boundaries change; all sixth-eighth graders in the Rebecca Creek and Startzville elementary boundaries will begin attending Mt. Valley Middle Sschool (no “grandfathering” of students currently attending Smithson Valley Middle)

• All middle school students (sixth-eighth) living in Specht Elementary’s boundaries start attending Smithson Valley Middle (no “grandfathering” of Specht students currently attending Spring Branch Middle)

2009-2010

• Johnson Ranch Area Elementary Opens (Pre-k-fifth) — Specht’s and Rahe Bul-verde’s boundaries change

• Oak Creek Area Elemen-tary Opens (Pre-k-fifth) — Hoffmann Lane Elementary’s boundaries change

The 2008-09 and 2009-10 school boundary maps are available at www.comalisd. org> About Us>Maps.