In 2015, there are approximately 14,500 students that attend Rockwall Independent School District. In 2007, the enrollment was placed at 13,072 students. The increase has been welcomed by the district, however, as the amount of student enrollment increases, there has been an increasing concern over the need for increased funding "in order to serve students in the manner commensurate with community standards".
Rockwall ISD has 1,550 employees and it operates on a $100 million dollar budget. The average student to teacher ratio is 25:1, 3 students higher than the Texas Education Agency's maximum classroom capacity. The average per pupil cost of the state of Texas is $8, 113. The per pupil cost in Rockwall ISD was $7,500 in 2011. (Sources: Rockwall ISD Facts, Rockwall ISD Official Budget 2010-2011 ).
In “Closer to Consensus”, it was shown that diseconomies of scale occur after a school district exceeds 15,000 students. Rockwall ISD currently has 14,500 students registered in its schools. At the secondary level, diseconomies of scale are achieved when begins to exceed 1070 students. In 2010, the high school I attended, Rockwall-Heath High School had 1,975 students enrolled. There are benefits to Rockwall ISD achieving economies of scale. It now has reached the size necessary to make large purchases and supplies negotiations. It has also reached an optimal ratio of students per teacher, making the cost of having teachers go down. At the district level, Rockwall has achieved an economy of scale. However, Rockwall-Heath High School is past the point of economies of scale and is now experiencing diseconomies of scale. To reduce enrollment and maximize efficiency, the school district has purchased land and is currently building a third high school. The reason the school district is quick to build schools when needed is because it hopes to minimize the costs of having mismanagement in the district. In addition to the dollars lost in diseconomies of scale, school districts experience lower standardized test grades, graduation rates and higher remedial student levels.
While the district has been able to address short-term growth, it has yet to address a contingency plan for when it exceeds the 15,000 student threshold and begins to have rising per unit costs. Rockwall-County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and in the country. It particularly attracts young families who are seeking to purchase large new homes priced around the 150’s. The district serves several cities that either sit completely or partially within Rockwall County. Some possible solutions could be that the municipalities that sit partially within the county be absorbed by the school district that serves the majority of their city. For example, about half of Royse City falls under the jurisdiction of Hunt County and is served by the Royse City Independent School District. The remaining half of Royse City falls under Rockwall County is under the jurisdiction of Rockwall ISD. The Residents of Royse City who are within the bounderies of Rockwall County are given a choice of either sending their children to Royse City ISD or Rockwall ISD. This results in a grey area where there is a duplication of efforts. Under my proposal the residents of Royse City within Rockwall County would be completely absorbed by Royse City ISD and the number of students of the smaller Royse City ISD would rise to a number that gives them more economies of scale and Rockwall ISD’s enrollment would decrease to a number that puts it below the 15,000 threshold.
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