For the law to be enforceable a cell phone use prohibited sign must be posted.  As of 10:00 am, the sign to the left had already been posted at Roth Elementary and by the end of the day I noticed numerous school zones in the Klein School District had posted signs.

Considering the large quantity of motorists I regularly see talking on their cell phones, I suspect this law is going to be difficult for many of them to get use to.  I know at least one motorist became much more aware of the new law today as I saw her getting pulled over in the Haude Elementary school zone on Louetta for talking on her cell phone.  Breaking of the law comes with a fine of up to $200 which I am not quite sure how the “UP TO” portion works but I am not going to personally find out. 

Many states have laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving not just while driving in a school zone.  So I think I can change my calling habits enough to wait the few minutes it takes to drive through a school zone before I place a call.

For a look at the state cell phone driving laws in individual states visit the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.

A standardized test that is administered to students in grades 3 – 11. The ratings given by the TEA to the schools and districts are (E) – Exemplary, (R) – Recognized, (A) – Academically Acceptable, and (U) – Unacceptable. The ratings are one of the ways parents evaluate Spring Texas schools in determining the quality of education provided to their children.

An Exemplary rating was easier to obtain in 2009 due to changes in the TEA ratings that gives schools credit for improvement.  In Texas, 2,151 schools received an Exemplary rating more than double the quantity of schools rated Exemplary in 2008.

84% of the Klein school district campuses earned an “Exemplary” or “Recognized” rating an improvement over the prior year’s figure of 65%.  One of the biggest improvements was in the quantity of ”Exemplary” rated campuses as the quantity increased from 7 to 16 campuses.  In addition, the Klein School District increased its District rating from “Academically Acceptable” to “Recognized”.

87% of the campuses in the Conroe School District received a “Recognized” or “Exemplary” rating up from 74%. The Conroe School District was also able to improve their district rating from “Academically Acceptable” to “Recognized”.   

The Spring School District continues to work hard and although its percentage of campuses achieving a “Recognized” or “Exemplary” rating remains unchanged at 55% compared to last year it has made strides at the individual campus level.  With 4 additional elementary schools achieving an “Exemplary” rating this year.

 75% of the Tomball school district campuses earned a “Recognized” or “Exemplary” rating which is up from 45% in the previous year.  Note worthy is Tomball H.S.’s improvement to a “Recognized” rating and Beckendorf Intermediate’s improvement to an “Exemplary” rating. 

The Cypress – Fairbanks School District also known as Cy-Fair remains top notch earning for the second year in a row a Recognized rating for the entire school district. Cy-Fair also continues to improve at the individual campus level as the quantity of campuses earning a “Recognized” or “Exemplary” rating has gone from 54% of the campuses in 2007 to 85% in 2009.

Additional detail on the ratings, student – teacher ratios, and campus demographics is available at TEA ratings. When relocating to Spring Texas you have a lot of decisions to make and deciding upon which schools you want your children to attend is one of them. Do your research and review the school districts and campuses TEA ratings, review the student – teacher ratios and other public data. After you have narrowed your choices down, go and visit the campuses you are considering. Get a feel for the school by walking through the halls, meet with the Principal and teachers and then make your own decision on which schools you want your kids to attend.

Even if you do not have children attending the Spring Texas schools the quality of education provided by the schools will still have an impact on you. The impact will be felt in your pocketbook. Good schools increase the value of Spring Texas homes. Bad schools will bring down the value of your home as less people will be interested in the area.

As a Spring Texas real estate agent, school districts and the particular schools a home is zoned to is a question I get frequently asked.  Although I cannot control the zoning of schools any more than I can control the weather, I can certainly understand the reason for the question.  Homes in the better school districts and zoned to the schools with the higher TAKS scores garner the highest demand and the increase in demand translates into greater price appreciation in home values. Thus whether you have school age children or not the school district and the individual schools your home is zoned to will and does impact the value of your home. 

As a full-time Realtor® everything in one way or another relates back to real estate for me.  So I apologize if back to school makes me think about resale value while back to school makes you think about school supplies, new clothes, schedules, and the never ending last minute notice of projects that are due tomorrow. 

Have a great school year!

Read also: 

• Learn about Spring Texa area schools – their TAKS scores and teacher – student ratios

The kids living in Spring Texas attend schools in either the Conroe School District, Klein School District, or Spring School District. All of these schools have web sites that are packed with the information you need including school hours, location and phone numbers, and bus schedules.

After that first time you wait in the horrendously long line to drop your kids off at school, you might all of sudden decide having your kids ride the bus to school sounds like a pretty good idea. No joke about the horrendously long lines. Maybe one of these days I will take a picture to share with you.

No matter whether your kids rode the bus last year or they will be riding the bus for the first year, its a good idea to check the bus schedules. Its best not to count on them to be the same schedule from year to year.

Conroe School District Bus Schedules, Klein School District Bus Schedules, and Spring School District Bus Schedules. We hope your kids excel this school year and enjoy the friendships made while riding the bus to their Spring Texas Schools.

If a new Spring Texas Homes is in your future, please give us a call at 281.300.3141 or 281.804.8626 and we would be happy to help you find the right house for you and your family to call “home”.

Read also:

• Spring Texas schools experience jump in latest TEA Ratings
• Spring TX Real Estate Taxes to increase with passage of school bonds

The ratings given by the TEA to the schools and districts are (E) – Exemplary, (R) – Recognized, (A) – Academically Acceptable, and (U) – Unacceptable. The ratings are one of the ways parents evaluate Spring Texas schools in determining the quality of education provided to their children.

13 schools (37% of the campuses) in the Klein School District improved their ratings. The most notable being the quantity of schools earning the coveted Exemplary (E) rating increased from 2 to 7. Move over Hassler and Haude elementary, you now have been joined by Theiss, Benfer, Roth, Metzer, and Benigus elementaries as holders of an Exemplary rating.

Six schools in the Conroe School District improved their ratings in the 2008 TEA ratings. True it is a small quantity of schools experiencing improvement. But with 63% of the Conroe School District elementary schools and 3 of its Intermediate / Jr High schools holding the Exemplary rating, they definitely have some high marks to be proud of. Congratulations goes out to McCullough Junior High which improved its rating from Recognized (R) to Exemplary.

Eight schools (27% of the campuses) in the Spring School District experienced improvement in their ratings. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Smith Elementary its only school to earn an Exemplary rating. The newly opened Dekaney High School received an Unacceptable rating. Let’s just hope its next year’s scores will be better.

Only 1 school out of the entire 11 schools in the Tomball School District improved its rating. Rosehill Elementary school teachers worked hard and increased their rating from an Academically Acceptable to Recognized.

Cypress – Fairbanks School District also known as Cy-Fair has something to crow about. They earned a Recognized rating for the entire school district. It is now the largest school district in the State of Texas to hold a Recognized rating. 18 schools (25% of the campuses) earned an improved TEA rating. A BIG Texas CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Cy-Fair High School and Cypress Woods High School both earned a Recognized (R) rating. The majority of high schools earn an Academcially Acceptable rating. Thus a Recognized rating is a HUGH accomplishment.

E = Exemplary, R = Recognized, A = Academically Acceptable, and U = Unacceptable

Additional detail on the ratings, student – teacher ratios, campus demographics is available at TEA ratings.

When relocating to Spring Texas and considering schools you need to do your research. Review the school districts and campuses TEA ratings, review the student – teacher ratios and other public data. After you have narrowed your choices down, go and visit the campuses you are considering. Walk through the halls, get a feeling for the campus, meet with the Principal and teachers and then make your own decision on which schools you want your kids to attend.

Even if you do not have children attending Spring Texas schools the quality of education provided by the schools still will have an impact on you. Its impact will be felt in your pocketbook. Good schools increase the value of Spring Texas homes. Bad schools decrease demand to live in the area and decreases the value of your home.

Got questions about Spring Texas real estate? Contact us at 281.804.8626 or 281.300.3141 and we will be happy to answer them.

“How do you determine which schools are good?” One of the methods we use to assess the quality of education provided by our schools are the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores. The TAKS are standardized tests administered to students in grades 3 – 11. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) rates schools and districts based largely on the results from these scores.

The ratings given are Exemplary (E), Recognized (R), Academically Acceptable (A), Academically Unacceptable (U), and Not Rated (NR). To learn more about the requirements needed to receive each of the ratings Read: Rating Texas Schools.

The Ratings for the 2006 – 2007 school year have just been released and “How did the schools in Spring Texas do?”

Klein School District with an enrollment of 41,438 students received an (A) – Academically Acceptable rating. Two of its elementary schools, Hassler and Haude, received an (E) – Exemplary rating. The Exemplary rating is a highly coveted rating as only about 8% of the campuses in the State of Texas receive the rating. 12 of the elementary schools received the (R) – Recognized rating with 10 of the elementary schools receiving the (A) – Academically Acceptable rating.

Strack was the only the intermediate school in the Klein School District to receive a (R) – Recognized rating. The other rated intermediate schools received an (A) – Academically Acceptable rating with the exception of Klein Intermediate which received an (U) – Academically Unacceptable rating. All four Klein High Schools received an (A) – Academcially Acceptable rating.

Read Also: Spring TX Real Estate Taxes to increase if school bond passes

Spring School District with an enrollment of 32,227 students received an (A) – Academically Acceptable rating. Ten of its elementary schools received a (R) rating with nine of the elementary schools receiving an (A) rating.

Spring School District’s five rated middle schools and two high schools all received an (A) – Academically Acceptable rating.

When relocating to Spring Texas and considering schools you need to do your research. Review the school districts and campuses TEA ratings, review the student – teacher ratios and other public data. After you have narrowed your choices down, go and visit the campuses you are considering. Walk through the halls, get a feeling for the campus, meet with the Principal and teachers and then make your own decision on how the schools in Spring Texas are.

Additional detail on the ratings, student – teacher ratios, campus demographics is available at TEA ratings.

Read also: Spring Texas schools experience jump in latest TEA ratings

Learn more about Spring Texas in our Discover Spring Texas section of our blogsite.

If you are like thinking, it wasn’t that long ago since Klein school district had their last bond election. You are right. Their last bond election was in 2004 for $224 million. It was projected to increase real estate taxes by $0.26 but luckily only reached $0.22. If you are not familiar with the components of our Texas property taxes, read Texas Property Taxes Why are they so HIGH?

What exactly is a school bond and why do we need it?

A school bond which is sometimes called a municipal bond is a document that obligates the school district to repay borrowed money on a given maturity date and to pay interest semi-annually at a rate set at the date of sale to the bondholder.

The Klein school district needs a school bond to fund its capital improvements to support the projected increase in its student population. The 2008 bond plan includes $345.9 million for growth, $256.7 million for renovations, $38.2 million for technology, and $6.1 million for safety/security for a total of $646.9 million.

The funds earmarked for growth will provide for the construction of three elementary schools, one Early Learning Pre-K Center, two intermediate schools, one high school, and classroom additions for both Klein Oak High School and Klein Collins High School.

On May 10th, Spring Texas residents in the Klein Independent School District will cast their vote in the Klein ISD bond election. If the bond passes, real estate taxes will increase by $0.20 over the next four years.

A small consolation is that due to the recent school property tax reform, the projected increase in our school property tax rate will still be LOWER than it was in the 2005 – 2006 school years.

But its not just Klein school district with a bond election. Residents in the Conroe and Humble school districts will also be voting on a bond election on May 10th.

The Conroe school district is seeking approval of a $527 million dollar bond that includes the construction of seven new schools and major additions and renovations to existing campuses. New campuses are needed to house the projected increase of 23,000 students in the next decade. The bond is projected to increase the real estate taxes of Conroe school district home owners by $0.10.

The Humble school district is seeking approval for a $245 million dollar bond that includes the construction of three new schools, the purchase of land for future campuses, an overhaul of the district’s football stadium, and a new police station. The projected impact on the pocket books of Humble school district homeowners is $0.08.

Read also:

• Klein school district experiences 16% growth
• UPDATED – Bonds Pass – Spring Texas real estate taxes to increase

Where is all this growth coming from? Since the last bond election in 2004, approximately 98 new subdivisions and new sections in existing subdivisions have been built in the Klein school district. Since all of the previous bond funds have been spent or designated for current projects, the district has started exploring a new bond election.

A steering committee comprised of 110 members of the community, parents, teachers, students, and other district personnel have been meeting monthly since September 2007. In March of 2008, they will present thier recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

What does this mean to the homeowners who live in the Klein school district in Spring Texas? If the bond passes, a real estate tax increase is in our near future. How much? At this point it is to early to tell. But early projections are for $0.20 per every $100 assessed value to be issued in over the next four years.

Hopefully, the steering committee will be fiduciary responsible and develop a plan that will support our children’s education and yet be kind to our pocket books.

Read Also:

• Klein school district tax rate second lowest in greater Houston area
• Texas property taxes why are they so HIGH?

The award winning Klein schools offer a good public education for a relatively low tax rate and is one of the many reasons that people enjoy the lifestyle available to them in Spring Texas.

The school district tax rate is one of the three components of the overall property tax rate paid by Spring TX homeowners. The other two components of the tax rate are the county and the MUD with the school and the MUD being the two largest components.

Read also:

• Why are Texas property taxes so HIGH?

Klein school district currently has 43,000 students enrolled and the projections are for an additional 18,000 to 22,000 students to be seeking education in Klein schools within 10 years. To support this level of growth the school district will need to build 10 elementary, three intermediate, and two high schools. Increase in students usually mean increase in property taxes.