Bay Area Edition | August 2023

EDUCATION BRIEFS

News from Clear Creek ISD

2023 EDUCATION EDITION

CCISD hears from public on bond CLEAR CREEK ISD In a series of public meetings, Clear Creek ISD ocials elded questions on the district’s new multi-million dollar bond, which was approved at the school board’s Aug. 21 meeting. BY JAMES T. NORMAN The cost: District ocials were looking at three possible options for the bond, two of which would have broken it up into multiple elections. The one chosen will ask voters for $302 million for a litany of high-pri- ority repairs at the district’s schools,

BONDING OUT Voters will decide in November whether to give Clear Creek ISD $302 million to help upgrade the district’s facilities as part of a bond program.

HIGHLIGHTS CLEAR CREEK ISD With summer wrapping up, Clear Creek ISD started its new school year on Aug. 21 and 22 as students returned to class. In the weeks leading up to it, the district welcomed more than 300 new teachers and saw its summer class of 2023 graduate. Going into the new year, winter break will start Dec. 25, and summer break will start May 31. CLEAR CREEK ISD Nearly six years after the district passed its $487 million bond in May 2017, CCISD is nearing completion on the list of projects tied to it. A few ribbon cuttings for newly renovated schools were held ahead of the new year. Meanwhile, the bond’s nal two projects, Whitcomb Elementary and Ross Elementary, were both deemed “substantially completed” in August. Clear Creek ISD will meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at 2425 E. Main St., League City. Meetings are streamed at www.youtube.com/@ccisdtv. MEETINGS WE COVER

$228.6M : Student Safety and Priority Repairs $59.8M : Technology $13.6M : Athletic and Fine Arts Improvements

$302M TOTAL:

such as new piping and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades, roong and cameras. The remainder will be deferred until a later date, but ocials don’t have a set timeline for when another vote could take place. The expec- tation is the bond could eventually total north of $600 million. The original $302 million will not increase the district’s tax rate, documents show. However, the total cost of the bond could change due to the timeline of some projects, ocials said in July. What they’re saying: Alison Put- nam, who sat on the recommending committee for the bond, said at a July 27 meeting the cost was too high.

The gist: CCISD ocials held several public meetings—along with a phone survey—in an eort to inform voters about both a voter-approval tax rate election, also called a VATRE, and a bond that, if approved in November, will total $302 million. Both items were approved at the district’s Aug. 21 meeting and will appear on the ballot in November. While district ocials presented both items to their constituents, it was the bond that received most of the attention at the public meetings, with a few people—including some on the committee that originally recommended the bond—saying the cost of the original recommenda- tion—$614 million—was too high.

SOURCE: CLEAR CREEK ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

“It is everything and the kitchen sink,” Putnam said of the bond. “Do we need to do all that stu right now?” Kayleigh Homaster, a CCISD teacher and committee member, said the district is running lean and that budget cuts aect her job. “I know it sounds like a lot of money, and it is. I’m not saying it’s not,” Homaster said. “If this is going to give my kids and my community a brighter future, I’m going for it.”

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BAY AREA EDITION • AUGUST 2023