As the North Dallas suburb of Allen continues to expand and develop, so it does its need for new schools. Allen ISD is currently in the process of rezoning 4 of its elementary schools to help accommodate over crowding as plans are currently underway to build 3 new elementary schools over the next several years.

However, one such community does not intend to take the rezoning process lying down. Many parents of the planned community of Lost Creek Ranch, located between Stacy and Angel, intend to fight the current proposal that calls for the displacement of about 30% of the community’s current attendance at Marion Elementary at Lost Creek Ranch. Which located in the heart of the community also bears the name of the community and the land for the school was sold to Allen ISD for a token amount under the pretense that it would be intended for LCR residents. The displaced students would then be forced to attend the new school located in a newly developed business district surrounded by a mini-mall, several banks, and a Walmart.

Some of the key points argued by LCR residents are: safety for their children along a soon to be 20 lane intersection surrounded by businesses, increased distance from their current school, and the inability for many students who currently walk to school to be able to continue this socially healthy and physical practice to their new school. Another main component fueling their argument is that several other communities located outside of LCR, who are currently attending Marion Elementary and are receiving busing services, will remain at Marion.

However, due to safety considerations, Asst. Superintendent Dr. Vroonland has stated that if the current proposal remains the same, due to the traffic considerations to the new school, rezoned LCR residents will be receiving bus services also. Which begs the question, why would Allen ISD spend the money to bus two neighborhoods to two different schools within the same proximity to the new school, thus increasing costs to tax payers and dividing a tight-knit community in the process. Among several alternative proposals submitted by LCR residents one includes moving communities outside of LCR, that are currently being bused, to the new school. LCR residents state that these communities would be moving as a whole rather than displacing part of a community and it would not be any further for them to attend the new school than the portion of LCR that is to be rezoned.

LCR residents have certainly come together to stand against the current proposal. Even LCR residents not affected by the new proposal are involved. Under the leadership of a self-appointed committee, LCR residents have gathered a plethora of facts and statistics supporting their cause, handed out fliers, put up signs, and even created a website to support their cause. The web design was graciously donated by lifeBLUE Media, a full service Internet development firm located here in the Dallas area.

In the end LCR residents want the Allen ISD to create a proposal that is fair for all communities involved. They understand it is not fair for anyone to have to move schools, but to alienate a small part of community that will endanger the safety of children and increase tax payer costs is not a viable option for any parent.

I just received an email from our neighbor coordinator alerting us that someone had received a call from AT&T (or Telus) and that they are testing their phone line and to press #90. This “supposedly” will give access to the person to make long distances call but charged to your phone.

So I looked into this and seem like this is just another chain letter that’s been going around since 1998. You can see it yourself on about.com and is known as an urban legen that’s partly true. Partly true because:

‘What the warning letter floating around the Net doesn’t say is that this scam only works on telephones where you have to dial 9 to get an outside line. Unless you have to dial 9 to get an outside line at home, this scam does not affect residential telephone users. Dialing “nine-zero-pound” on a residential phone will only give you a busy signal. That’s it.”

I would just read the bottom comment on that page and also read it from the following sites. Regardless of what it does or doesn’t do, I’m sure you would know not to do anything that’s asked of you from anyone who calls out of the blue.

From FCC
Breakthechain.org

Looks like more people were against Proposition one. Which would have prevented the building of the tollway inside the Trinity River levees. It was pretty close. So this means they WILL put the tollway through. Oh well…