Round Rock Edition | October 2023

BY BROOKE SJOBERG

Plans approved for Early College High School Round Rock ISD’s Early College High School is one step closer to realization on the Austin Community College’s Round Rock campus. What’s happening District officials Sept. 21 approved agreements with ACC, including a ground lease for 2.2 acres on campus, and the use of 2018 bond funds for the design and partial construction of a campus to house the high school. This will be the first phase of the campus. The backstory In 2018, voters who live in the district passed a $508.4 million bond with $275.4 million designated for projects to address growth, including the new high school campus to hold 500 students. The district budgeted $15 million of this for ECHS. However, due to the increase in costs of materials

District receives A financial rating Round Rock ISD announced a “superior” rating of its financial integrity in August for the 2022-23 school year from the Texas Education Agency. The details The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas scores districts as A through F. This rating is based on 15 different metrics, such as audit and governance disclosures, cash and investments, tax collections, fund balance, debt management, administrative costs, capital projects and staff levels. The district has earned an A rating for 19 of the last 20 years, according to TEA data. This rating is considered for a variety of financial actions of the district, such as the interest rates on bonds. By having better ratings, the district can access less expensive debt.

About the project The agreements approved by the district for the school's construction lay out the following:

$6 million to lease the property from Austin Community College

20 years to pay back at 4% annual interest rate

22-25 months to complete the project

SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT

and labor, the new estimated cost to construct the campus has increased to $33.93 million. District officials approved the additional funds, which were left over from the contingencies of completed bond projects. RRISD Chief Financial Officer Dennis Covington said these were funds remaining from amounts budgeted for other projects to allow for wiggle room if they came in over budget.

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