One of the biggest takeaways from the Corpus Christi Independent School District’s special meeting on redistricting was the overcrowding at Kaffie Middle School. In fact, one of the goals listed was “immediate alleviation” of the Southside campus.
The recommendation to achieve that goal would move some Kaffie students over to Adkins Middle School as early as next fall. That possibility has parents divided.
Leticia Pena, who has a 7th grader at Kaffie, says the overcrowding on campus is no surprise to her and other parents.
“We’ve heard how they added new teachers just as recently as a few weeks ago and split up classes that were past capacity,” Pena told KRIS 6 News.
Although her daughter would not be impacted by the current recommendation, she still supports it. The plan would allow incoming 8th graders to be grandfathered in and stay at kaffie, with the option to attend Adkins. However, incoming 6th and 7th graders would be required to attend Adkins. That campus is nearly four miles away on Ennis Joslin near Wooldridge.
District staff says this would help accommodate the rapid growth on the city’s Southside. But others like Ruben Dominguez, whose granddaughter attends Kaffie, believes this change would be too sudden for families.
“That’s going create a hardship for some parents because it’s going to be further away so I don’t agree with that,” Dominguez said. “I think they should concentrate on the neighborhood schools where they’re closer.”
Pena says she understands those kinds of concerns but also says this proposal is proof that more business and more people are coming to Corpus Christi, and CCISD is just taking the necessary steps to keep up.
“What do we want? Do we want the growth? Do we want to stay the same?” Pena questioned.
Parents will have a chance to give the district feedback on these plans before it’s finalized. CCISD superintendent Dr. Roland Hernandez says the next step is to get the proposal out to the public and get their response, in hopes of having a final plan ready by the end of this school year.
