HISD elementary school finds solution to overcrowding issue

HOUSTON – Briargrove Elementary School came up with a solution Tuesday, and students in the school zone will now be bused to another school.

After meeting with school officials for a several hours Tuesday, Isaac Johnson said his three kids are going to Memorial Elementary: not by choice, but because that's the only school with any space for them.

"This area is overpopulated and so what they're trying to do is trying to find surrounding schools, placements for them," Johnson said.

They're considered lucky. This morning, other parents and children were turned away for the second day in a row with the instructions to "wait by the phone."

"HISD has known this is a problem, with the school," Annette Satterwhite said. "It's not new and there is no school in the Galleria area that my son can go to."

The Houston Independent School District told KPRC 2 News in an email that parents register their students during the summer, but they can't officially enroll until the first day of school. Kids who register after the school reaches capacity are put on a waiting list.

"I went to the charter school, I called TH Rogers because he was wait-listed there, and here again there's no space in a public school for my son for first grade," Satterwhite said.

The district said, "The only thing we did differently this year is provide early notifications to parents. In previous years, parents would register their kids during the summer, but wouldn't find out the school was full until they showed up on the first day to enroll. This year, parents were notified of potential capping during the registration process."