Bryan schools try to see future

The Bryan school board hired a firm this week to analyze the future growth of its student population.

The board voted unanimously to pay College Station-based Population and Survey Analysts about $49,700 to conduct a demographic study of the district. The last one was completed in 2006, before the recent census data was released.

Superintendent Thomas Wallis said the local company, which compiled the prior study, already knows developers and landowners and has an ear to the ground for future growth in the city.

"This is one of those areas we feel like hiring local makes a big difference," he told the board. "We need to find out where the kids are as we move forward with potential other decisions we'll need to make."

Wallis said some schools in the district that are bursting at the seams while others are only halfway full.

"We can't keep adding people to Long and other schools when I have Sam Rayburn with classes empty, and other elementary schools with portable buildings," he said. "I can't in good conscience say, 'Let's build another school' when I have schools that are half-empty. I need to know where the kiddos are so we can draw some lines."

Chief Financial Officer Amy Drozd said the company was extremely accurate in its projections in its last study. The new one is expected to be completed by April and will be done in two phases. It will update student enrollment projections and look to see if reconfigurations are needed to best utilize facilities over the next five years.

The firm will take into account past trends of population mobility within the district and will tap city planners to help pinpoint neighborhoods that are growing and those that are decreasing in size, she said.

"It's a lot of knocking on doors," Drozd said.

Drozd said the district has one piece of land that's already been purchased for a future elementary school. As the district dives into creating next year's budget, she said, it's vital to have the survey results to estimate how much money it will receive from the state based on enrollment.

"We were relatively flat in enrollment this year, which was a surprise for us," she said. "Our budget is so tight I just can't really afford to say no growth ... and then get more students."

The survey will also look at the socioeconomics of each campus to determine if rezoning is needed, she said.

"The trend now is not trying to balance schools on demographics but socioeconomics," Drozd said. "It's very hard to balance socioeconomics across the district. You try to not have a school with all the 'haves' and a school with all the 'have nots.'"