BOND BREAK DOWN Conroe ISD voters will see an $807 million school bond on the May 4 election ballot. If approved by voters, the bond will pay for school construction and renovations across the district.
TOTAL
DEBT SERVICE
MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS
TAX RATE CHANGES
$0.27
$0.245
$0.24
$0.24
$0.24
$0.24
$0.25
School bonds have the potential to increase residents’ property tax rates. Here is how Conroe ISD’s $807 million bond proposal could affect local rates if approved.
$1.04
$1.04
$1.04
$1.04
$1.04
$1.04
$1.04
SOURCE:CONROE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER
T O TA L : $807M
MAY 2015 BOND
’13-’14 ’14-’15 ’15-’16 ’16-’17 ’17-’18 ’19-’20 ’20-’24
PROPOSED MAY 2019 BOND
YEARS
$270M Growth and sustainability $192.3M New schools
CONTINUED FROM 1 tackle districtwide issues such as safety and security, improv- ing the longevity of cam- puses and expanding existing schools. The bond would also fund three new elementary schools, one new junior high school, facility upgrades and a new career and technical edu- cation building. The bond package tackles growth in specific portions of South Montgomery County. PASA data showed 27.7 percent of the popula- tion—17,404 students—cur- rently reside in The Woodlands Township. As for proposed changes to the South Montgomery County area, the district intends to target continued growth in the new Grand Oaks High School feeder zone with a new elemen- tary school, as well as upgrade older campuses such as Oak Ridge High School. PROPOSED PROJECTS Among new construction proposed, a $39.4 million ele- mentary school is proposed in the Grand Oaks feeder zone, currently named Flex 22, which would have a capacity of 1,000 students, said Easy Foster, CISD’s director of planning and construction. According to the PASA report, new housing occupancies south of the Grand Parkway— where Grand Oaks is located— is projected to increase by 1,255 between 2018-23. Furthermore, the report stated approximately 6,000 acres of land remain undeveloped in the area,
leaving room for additional development. While the elementary school’s location has not been decided, Foster said the esti- mated construction timeline for the project will be February 2022-July 2023. If voters approve the bond, the district will begin work on designs, and it could begin construction on some bond projects as early as 2019, Foster said. The bond package also includes funds for new ele- mentary schools in the feeder zones for Conroe and Caney Creek high schools as well as a new junior high campus in the Caney Creek High School feeder zone. It also includes $20 mil- lion in future land purchases for schools and facilities. The district has prioritized bond projects based on indi- cators such as districtwide growth and immediate and future needs, Foster said. The bond package also includes roughly $24.6 million in safety and security upgrades, which Null said could include installing more secure vesti- bules and security cameras across the district. “Safety and security is a mov- ing target—we learn more every day about how to help our schools become more secure,” Null said. EXPANSIONS The bond package also includes improvements to other The Woodlands-area schools, including Oak Ridge, The Woodlands and The Woodlands
College Park high schools. Oak Ridge High School’s pro- posed $47.6 million overhaul includes upgrades to mechan- ical systems, an addition of a career and technical education center, and cosmetic upgrades to facilities. Null said the cam- pus overhaul includes addi- tional classrooms to alleviate overcrowding at the school. The Woodlands and College Park high schools, on the other hand, will each see investments of $11.2 million, which would begin to eliminate the need for portable buildings at the cam- puses, Foster said. The Woodlands High School is also set to gain a robotics lab and additional science class- rooms, he said. “With this addition, the campus will not only receive space for in-demand programs, but—when combined with the projected enrollment decline— the reliance on portables will decrease significantly over time,” he said. Meanwhile, College Park High School is set to gain 10 classrooms. The timeline for both projects would be Sep- tember 2020-July 2021. Districtwide, CISD hopes to fund field conversions from grass to turf on all high school athletic fields in the district, with the exception of the new Grand Oaks High School, which opened August 2018 and already has turf fields. Foster said the $23.2 million invest- ment will require less main- tenance over time as well as allow more use of the fields. “Changing their athletic
$88.1M Life cycle $62.6M Campus improvements and renovations $60.3M Facilities and transportation $24.6M Safety and security $14.1M Career Technical Education facilities $95M Other
GROWTH & SUSTAINABILITY
• Conroe High School:
• Caney Creek High School: Capacity and program upgrades • Creighton Elementary: Over- haul of building
Phase two of master plan, ninth-grade campus classroom additions
NEW SCHOOLS
• New elementary schools in: Conroe High feeder (Flex 21), Caney High Creek feeder (Flex
20), Grand Oaks High feeder • New junior high school in: Caney Creek feeder
OTHER
• Technology • Future land purchases
• Contingency
• High-priority projects Life cycle projects replace or improve existing systems. LIFE CYCLE
• Life cycle of campuses 2020-23
CAMPUS IMPROVEMENTS & RENOVATIONS
• Collins andWilkerson inter- mediate schools: physical education classroom and gym additions • Runyan Elementary School: physical education classroom and gym addition • Glen Loch Elementary • Central maintenance and custodial staff • New buses • Transportation center expan- sions and renovation • Jett Center decommissioning • Hauke Alternative Academic High School building reno- vation • Teacher training center building DISTRICTWIDE FACILITIES & TRANSPORTATION • Safety and security upgrades to all campuses 2020-23 SAFETY & SECURITY • North County Agricultural/CTE complex CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES School: HVAC overhaul • TheWoodlands College Park High School: fire alarm com- pliance and safety upgrades, energy efficiency projects • Washington Junior High: school conversion to Washing- ton High School
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Community Impact Newspaper • communityimpact.com
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