Harvest Ridge Bares Brunt of Keller ISD Growth

Keller ISD rezoning proposal would be neighborhood's second school change in three years

Parents in a north Fort Worth neighborhood say they are feeling the brunt of a school district's growing pains.

A Keller Independent School District proposal to rezone the Harvest Ridge neighborhood would send its Independence Elementary students to Woodland Springs Elementary next year.

Harvest Ridge Homeowner Association president Alex Lopez said the rezoning would be the second school movement in three years and the fifth in nine years.

"We would at minimum like to know what our future holds so we can tell our children in the community that they will not be moved anymore, they will not be affected," he told the school board Thursday night.

The school district said in a statement that the rezoning is in part "to accommodate growth in the northwestern portion of the district in Fort Worth. While it's a painful process, it's a necessary one."

But Lopez said the neighborhood has heard it before and wonders when the school board will finally get it right.

"We fear what the future may lie," he said. "This may not be our last movement."

Parents such as Christi Upton say they are concerned about the issues that come along with rezoning.

"This neighborhood potentially will not get bused or transported to the elementary school," she said.

Woodland Springs is only about two miles away from Harvest Ridge. Students who walk to school would have to cross the busy intersection at Keller Haslet and North Caylor roads if the district does not provide bus service.

"In the morning, it can take approximately 5 to 10 minutes for a vehicle to exit our community onto Keller Haslet (Road) to proceed towards 170," Lopez said. "Now imagine yourself having a 5- to 9-year-old child trying to cross that."

"We're really comfortable with this school because we know a lot of kids and teachers,"  Independence student Alex Upton said.

"I don't like it, because it would be the second time I'm moving," said classmate Gabriella Carden.

The school board has not yet set a date to vote on the rezoning proposal.

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