The Role of Noncontiguous Attendance Zones in Shaping School Populations - A Case Study of Tucson, Arizona and Fort Bend, Texas

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda

Noncontiguous school attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) create unusual boundary shapes that assign two or more non-adjacent residential areas to the same school. Because they can influence enrollment through residential sorting, AZBs have been tied to segregation and desegregation efforts. Using a longitudinal AZB dataset and descriptive quantitative and geospatial methods, the study tracks changes from 1990-2020 in Tucson, Arizona and Fort Bend, Texas. Results show stronger links to racially diverse schools and differing neighborhood compositions in Tucson, with the Tucson association weakening after ending court-ordered desegregation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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education policy analysis archives A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal Arizona State University | Volume 32 Number 42 | August 6, 2024 | ISSN 1068-2341 | | --- | --- | --- | The Role of Noncontiguous Attendance Zones in Shaping School Populations: A Case Study of Tucson, Arizona and Fort Bend, Texas Sarah Asson The Pennsylvania State University Ruth Krebs Buck The Pennsylvania State University Hope Bodenschatz University of California, Davis Erica Frankenberg The Pennsylvania State University & Christopher S. Fowler The Pennsylvania State University United States Citation: Asson, S., Buck, R. K., Bodenschatz, H., Frankenberg, E., & Fowler, C. S. (2024) . The role of noncontiguous attendance zones in shaping school populations: A case study of Tucson, Arizona and Fort Bend, Texas. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 32(42) . [https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.32.8302](https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.32.8302) Abstract: Noncontiguous school attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) have a unique, relatively uncommon shape that assign two or more non-adjacent residential areas to the same school. Given their ability to shape school enrollments by taking advantage of residential sorting, noncontiguous AZBs have historically been linked to explicit efforts to both segregate and desegregate schools. In this paper, we use a novel, longitudinal dataset of AZBs and descriptive quantitative and geospatial methods to understand how the relationship between noncontiguous zones, school diversity, and neighborhood demographics changed from 1990-2020 in two southwestern school districts—Tucson Unified School District, Arizona and Fort Bend Independent School District, Texas. Each district has a unique legal history and demographic context that informs their use of noncontiguous AZBs. We find noncontiguous AZBs are more strongly associated with racially diverse schools and are more likely to bring together neighborhoods with different compositions in Tucson compared to Fort Bend. However, the association between Tucson’s noncontiguous AZBs and racially diverse schools has waned since 1990, as the district has negotiated the end of its court-ordered desegregation plan. Our findings provide insight into when and how noncontiguous AZBs can effectively contribute to ethnoracially diverse schools. Keywords: school attendance zones; school segregation; demographic change; case study El papel de las zonas de asistencia no contiguas en la configuración de las poblaciones escolares: Un estudio de caso de Tucson, Arizona y Fort Bend, Texas Resumen: Los límites de las zonas de asistencia escolar (AZB) no contiguas tienen una forma única y relativamente poco común que asigna dos o más áreas residenciales no adyacentes a la misma escuela. Dada su capacidad para dar forma a las inscripciones escolares aprovechando la clasificación residencial, las AZB no contiguas históricamente han estado vinculadas a esfuerzos explícitos tanto para segregar como para eliminar lasegregación de las escuelas. En este artículo, utilizamos un nuevo conjunto de datos longitudinales de AZB y métodos cuantitativos y geoespaciales descriptivos para comprender cómo cambió la relación entre zonas no contiguas, la diversidad escolar y la demografía del vecindario entre 1990 y 2020 en dos distritos escolares del suroeste: el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Tucson, Arizona y el Distrito Escolar Independiente de Fort Bend, Texas. Cada distrito tiene una historia legal y un contexto demográfico únicos que informan su uso de AZB no contiguos. Encontramos que las AZB no contiguas están más fuertemente asociadas con escuelas racialmente diversas y es más probable que reúnan vecindarios con diferentes composiciones en Tucson en comparación con Fort Bend. Sin embargo, la asociación entre las AZB no contiguas de Tucson y las escuelas racialmente diversas ha disminuido desde 1990, a medida que el distrito negoció el fin de su plan deabol

FAQs

What are noncontiguous school attendance zone boundaries (AZBs)?

They are boundary structures that assign two or more non-adjacent residential areas to the same school. Their shape is relatively uncommon compared with typical contiguous zoning.

How does the study analyze AZBs and their effects between 1990 and 2020?

It uses a novel longitudinal dataset of AZBs along with descriptive quantitative and geospatial methods. The analysis tracks relationships among noncontiguous zones, school diversity, and neighborhood demographics over time.

How do findings differ between Tucson, Arizona and Fort Bend, Texas?

Noncontiguous AZBs are more strongly associated with racially diverse schools overall, but Tucson shows a greater likelihood of bringing together neighborhoods with different compositions. In Tucson, the association with racially diverse schools weakens after the district negotiates the end of its court-ordered desegregation plan.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda