Shifting Landscape: Growing population fuels Austin area Realignment changes

The UIL’s biennial Realignment is here and with it comes all the drama surrounding congressional redistricting minus the partisan rancor. That’s not to say there isn’t discussion, debate, second-guessing and controversary; there is, and lots of it.

That’s what makes Realignment the most entertaining and intriguing parlor game in all of Texas. And this time, after a couple cycles of relative stability, central Texas’ growing and migrating population has resulted in new districts affecting Austin area schools in dramatic fashion.

Let’s take a look at the new football districts set to take effect this fall and remain in place for the next two seasons. (Note: this article deals specifically with football districts. Please visit the UIL’s website for a complete list of the new Volleyball and Basketball districts.)

Let the water cooler debates begin!

6A

There have been two 6A districts in Austin for years. District 25-6A and District 26-6A still exist and will still square off in the Bi-district round. But a reconfigured District 24-6A has also popped up. Consisting of Austin area schools and, unlike the other two, part of Region 3 qualifying teams will look east towards Houston in the playoffs instead of south towards San Antonio.

District 24-6A: Cedar Park, East View, Hutto, Leander, Rouse, Vandegrift, Vista Ridge

With so many Austin area schools growing into 6A, somebody had to move to Region 3 and these seven schools drew that straw. Vandegrift and Vista Ridge are the only current 6A teams in this district. Fellow Leander ISD schools Cedar Park, Leander and Rouse, all currently 5A, have grown enough to generate a flashback reunion of sorts to when all five competed together as 4A schools last decade. Hutto is another District 25-6A refugee that could have wound up here or back in District 12-6A with schools ranging from the Killeen area through Belton and Waco and east to Bryan as in the previous alignment. East View is another 5A school that’s moving up to 6A. Like Hutto, they too could easily have been placed in 12-6A but instead round out this new district nicely, if a bit randomly.

District 25-6A: Cedar Ridge, Lake Travis, McNeil, Round Rock, Stony Point, Westlake, Westwood

The five Round Rock ISD schools here have been a solid block for a while, joined by a rotating cast of characters. Cue this cycle where Hutto, Vandegrift and Vista Ridge have moved out and Manor has moved down to 5A – and rotate in Lake Travis and Westlake. While replacing one perennial state power in Vandegrift with the Cavs and the Chaps makes reaching the playoffs tougher, it also spares the RRISD quintet the specter of facing them in the first round. (Not that any of those schools are going to concede anything to the newcomers.) As for Westlake and Lake Travis, they’re likely to benefit from the change of scenery and seeing some new faces during the regular season.

District 26-6A: Akins, Austin High, Bowie, Del Valle, Dripping Springs, Hays, (Buda) Johnson

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out” may have been the prevailing sentiment amongst this district’s Austin ISD schools and Dripping Springs as Westlake and Lake Travis move across the bracket to 25-6A. Since Drip has steadily evolved into a state power, it’s typically left the AISD schools and Del Valle battling for the final playoff spot. With Hays growing back into a 6A program and Buda Johnson rejoining the Austin area after a two-year southern purgatory, District 26-6A has evolved into an interesting wide-open race.

5A

Even as several current 5A teams move up to 6A next year, the larger 5A teams slated for 5A Division 1 find themselves lumped into massive 9-teams districts. Tough break for them but the new alignments provide a real boost to the area’s smaller 5A teams.

District 12-5A-1: A&M Consolidated, College Station, Georgetown, Glenn, Hendrickson, Killeen, Killeen Shoemaker, Pflugerville Connally, Weiss

This is a nasty district. Not only is District 12-5A-1 an overstuffed 9-team monstrosity, it features nine really good teams. Pflugerville ISD’s Connally, Hendrickson and Weiss join Georgetown and Glenn, the sole remaining 5A club from Leander ISD, in a sprawling district Frankensteined together from Killeen to College Station. With only four teams making the playoffs, the odds are against teams by default in 9-team districts. A&M Consolidated and College Station are nearly always playoff contenders and Killeen schools are always dangerous. It’s not hard to imagine at least one solid Austin-area representative missing the Cut Line come November. And the survivors head east to Houston as part of Region 3, upping the degree of difficulty considerably.

District 13-5A-1:Anderson, Cedar Creek, Boerne Champion, Lehman, Lockhart, Manor, McCallum, Seguin, Smithson Valley

Austin ISD’s Anderson and McCallum join Cedar Creek, Lehman, Lockhart and Manor in another 9-team district. This one makes more geographic sense than 12-5A-1 as it combines Austin schools with teams that are south of San Marcos but north of San Antonio. Smithson Valley joins Anderson as a playoff heavyweight while Manor looks to stabilize again as a 5A program under a new Head Coach and new AD. Looking ahead to the playoffs, travel is going to be rough for any Austin area schools that get in. District 14-5A-1 sits across the Region 4 bracket, with teams from the Laredo area joining southern San Antonio teams.

District 12-5A-2: Bastrop, Crockett, Elgin, LASA, Navarro, Pflugerville

This district has none of the drawbacks facing those teams in 5A Division 1 above. Start with the simple math. Rather than competing in the bursting-at-the-seams 9-team conglomerations the area’s larger 5A teams face, this district features just six teams. Them’s good odds! Plus, there will be minimal travel for district games, (although Houston looms on the playoff horizon.)

District 13-5A-2: Boerne, Legacy Ranch, Liberty Hill, Long Creek (New Braunfels), New Braunfels, SA Alamo Heights, SA Veterans Memorial

This might be the worst designed district involving teams in the Austin area. Liberty Hill and Legacy Ranch, the new school in Liberty Hill ISD, getting lumped in with all these schools down south is a real blow. Consider: as just noted, there are just six teams in 12-5A-2, which could have easily absorbed the two schools from Liberty Hill. Meanwhile, District 14-5A-2 features nine teams from San Antonio. I’m sure there’s some logical reason such as not splitting up teams within the same school district, but surely some of those 14-5A-2 schools or isolated nearby teams could have joined this district instead of the Liberty Hill schools. Some seriously long bus rides – and travel expenses – in store for all these schools.

4A

District 13-4A-1: Canyon Lake, Davenport, Fredericksburg, Kerrville Tivy, LBJ, Northeast, Taylor, Travis

Some of Austin ISD’s smaller schools join Taylor in repping the Austin area in this district stretching west into the Hill Country and south to near San Antonio.

District 14-4A-2: Austin Achieve, Eastside, Giddings, Lago Vista, Manor New Tech, Wimberley

Some teams that haven’t sniffed the playoffs in a long time (if ever) will have a chance in this surprisingly compact district. Wimberley is a tough out and there’s some travel with Giddings, but simple math means some new faces in the post-season.