Klein Independent School District

Klein Independent School District
Location
United States
District information
Grades	Pre-K/EC through 12
Established	July 1928
Superintendent	Dr. Bret A. Champion
District ID	4825740
Students and staff
Students	50,600
Other information
Website	kleinisd.net

Klein Independent School District (Klein ISD) is a school district that covers 87.5 square miles (227 km²) in Harris County, Texas, United States. Almost all of the territory is unincorporated; a small portion of Houston is within the district.^[1][2] In the 2014-15 school year Klein had 49,400 students, and in the 2015-2016 year, Klein ISD has 50,600 students. Klein ISD is part of the taxation base for the Lone Star College System. Dr. Bret Champion is Superintendent of Schools.

As of 2015, the school district is rated "met standard" by the Texas Education Agency.^[3]

History

Originally named Rural High School District No. 1 in July 1928, it became known as Klein Independent School District on February 26, 1938, after residents voted 84 to 4 to rename the district after Adam Klein, who led many German immigrants into the area in 1854. It is board policy that all high schools include the name 'Klein' in honor of the district's namesake.

In 1971, Dr. Donald Richard Collins, CPA, became the district's superintendent and served until his retirement in 2000. Under his tenure the number of schools in the district rose from 6 to over 30. Largely under his influence, the district adopted a policy of naming schools after early immigrants to the area, mostly of German ancestry and many of them related to the Klein family. In 2001, Klein Collins High School was named in his honor.

The district's superintendent was Dr. Jim Cain. Formerly a director of school administration in Klein ISD before moving to Fort Bend ISD as an area superintendent, Dr. Cain returned to Klein and worked as the assistant/associate superintendent for administration.^[4] In late 2015, Cain announced he would retire on June 30, 2016. He will serve as a special assistant to the school board to find a new superintendent in July and August.^[5] Klein Cain High School (which will open in 2017) is named after him. Bret A. Champion Ed.D. was named as the new superintendent, and was the former superintendent of Leander ISD.^[6]

Communities

Klein ISD serves unincorporated portions of northern Harris County, Texas, and includes the communities and neighborhoods of Klein, Kohrville, Louetta, and parts of North Houston. Some areas within the Spring and Tomball postal designations, and a portion of "Acres Homes" within the city limits of Houston are also served by Klein ISD.^[7]

The Klein ISD Board of Trustees passed a resolution^[8] at their January 2016 meeting regarding renaming the 88 square miles encompassing Klein ISD as Klein, Tx. The resolution includes the following:

1. Recommends that residents living within the district boundaries refer to their community as Klein, Texas;
2. Recommends that citizens within zip codes 77379, 77389 and 77391 use Klein, Texas as their address; and
3. Directs that all Klein ISD buildings and facilities be identified as being in Klein, Texas.

By Texas legislative action in 1977, the area inside the boundaries of the Klein ISD was designated as Klein, Texas.^[9]

Bonds

On May 10, 2008, a bond referendum for $646.9 million was passed with approximately 52% (4,732 of 9,152) of the ballots for it. The bond was to create new schools, including present-day Blackshear Elementary, Bernshausen Elementary,and New High School No.5.^[10][11] In May 2015, Klein ISD held another bond referendum for $498.1 million, which passed with around 77% (4,571 of 6,033) of the ballots for it. The bond includes $283.6 million to accommodate growth with new construction, including $121.9 million for High School No. 5, $47.1 million for Intermediate School No. 10, and $26.2 million for Elementary School No. 33, and expansion of gymnasia and classroom additions.^[12][13]

List of campuses

All Klein ISD campuses are listed in the charts below. This includes their 5 high schools, 9 middle schools, and 35 elementary schools. If there is no article on a certain school, the link will be to its respective campus website. All people labeled under "Campus Leadership" are the main principals.

High schools

All students have the opportunity to go to the Vistas High School Program.

Intermediate schools

Elementary schools

Former campuses

• Klein Intermediate School: Situated next to what is currently Klein High School, the original Klein Intermediate, not to be confused with the existing one, opened in 1967. It became the Klein HS 9th grade building in 1975, and later became Kleb Intermediate School, again not to be confused with the existing one, in 1981. As of 1993, it has been the Klein Annex..^[14]
• Klein Elementary School: Located next to original Klein High School on Spring Cypress Road, Klein Elementary School opened in 1940 and was renamed Klein Middle School in 1971. The building was removed in 2007 as it had been deemed unsafe for habitation and to make way for the construction of the Network Operation Center.^[14]
• Garden City Elementary School: Located on W. Montgomery Road just south of the present day Nitsch Elementary School, this school opened in 1956 and closed in the 1970s.^[14]
• Recreation Acres Elemenatary School: This school served southern part of district and opened in 1949.^[14]
• Kohrville Schoolhouse: Located at the present-day corner of Spring-Cypress and Huffsmith-Kohrville Road, this school opened in 1895 and closed in 1967. During the period of segregation, this was the African American School, and served the community of Kohrville.^[14]

Future schools

Klein Cain High School

On June 9, 2014, the Klein Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a design for Klein Cain, planned to be completed by August 2017. The 665,000-square-foot (6.18 ha) campus will be able to accommodate 3,600 students and will be situated on Spring Cypress Road next to Ulrich Intermediate School. This school will relieve Klein Oak High School and Klein High School from becoming overcrowded until a planned High School Number 6 is built. Due to realignment within the district, some students will also be rezoned from Klein Forest and Klein Collins to Klein High. Meetings were held in the fall of 2015 to discuss zoning options. The preferred draft was presented at the December 14 meeting, and on February 16, the Board of Trustees approved the high school attendance zones, which will take effect in the fall of 2017 to coincide with the school's opening.^[15][16][17]

Intermediate School 10

On Jan. 11, 2016, the Klein ISD Board of Trustees approved the Design Development for Intermediate School #10. Huckabee Architects has designed the 205,000 sf. campus in three separate learning areas: 6th Grade, 7th & 8th Grade STEM, and 7th & 8th Grade Humanities. It is designed to accommodate a site on West Rayford Rd next to Metzler Elementary with a 20 ft. elevation change that runs front to back, as well as 2 acres of protected wetlands. Per the current instructional program for intermediate schools, the campus includes a Black Box theater classroom that is being designed to combine as a stage; collaboration areas within the communities for project-based learning and small group instruction; and Makerspace in the library or learning commons.^[18]

See also

• List of school districts in Texas

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Klein Independent School District.

• Official site
• Klein ISD Education Foundation