Keller - Roanoke - Northeast Fort Worth | January 2023

2023 ANNUAL COMMUNITY GUIDE

Northwest ISD bond spending helps address explosive growth

A TEXASSIZED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Northwest ISD is one of the largest school districts in the state and the largest in North Texas.

School districts in square miles

BY MARK FADDEN

$737.5 million to make school facil- ity and capital improvements, build new middle school recreational facil- ities, and purchase new technology devices. Capital improvements include con- structing two new elementary schools and one new middle school, and replacing W.R Hateld Elementary School and Gene Pike Middle School, each in Justin; making land acquisi- tion for new schools; and purchasing new buses. Facility improvements include adding Pre-K classrooms with restrooms that meet state-mandated full-day Pre-K requirements, and add- ing access controls and new security cameras at Kay Granger Elementary School in Fort Worth, O.A. Peterson Elementary School in Fort Worth and Roanoke Elementary School in Roanoke. Growth has been a long-term theme for NISD, and the district has been try- ing to keep up by passing several bond packages over the years, including $224.5 million in 2005, $260 million in 2008, $255 million in 2012, and $399 million in 2017. While the 2021 bond package includes projects designed to accom- modate nearly 5,000 new students over the next three to four years, Templeton expects NISD’s enrollment to grow to 38,400 by the 2026-27 aca- demic year and to more than 49,800 students by the 2031-32 academic year. According to Zonda Education, student enrollment increased 29.9% during the ve years between the

Carroll ISD 21 SQUARE MILES

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD 54 SQUARE MILES

Bob Templeton, vice president of school district segment for Zonda Edu- cation, was clear about the impending growth the Northwest ISD board will see during a Jan. 9 presentation. “You are going to be experiencing the fastest growth of any districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth region,” he said. Student enrollment ballooned from 15,036 in 2010 to 25,399 in 2020, according to the district website. NISD began the 2022-23 academic year with more than 28,600 students and is projected to end the school year with more than 30,000. In addition to being the fast- est-growing school district in the region, NISD is also one of the largest in terms of distance. At 234 square miles, NISD encompasses more than four times the area districts, such as Keller ISD at 51 square miles and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD at 54 square miles, do. Neighboring district Denton ISD contains all or parts of 18 cities, communities or major devel- opments, but only encompasses 186 square miles. The NISD board of trustees has been aware of the signicant growth in its district for several years. After a bond package of nearly $1 billion was rejected by voters in November 2020, 35 projects representing more than $240 million in cost reductions were removed, and a new $745.7 mil- lion bond was presented to voters in 2021. Voters approved three out of the four proposals in the bond package. The three proposals gave the district

Northwest ISD 234 SQUARE MILES

Keller ISD 51 SQUARE MILES

Eagle Mountain- Saginaw ISD 73 SQUARE MILES

NOT DONE GROWING Northwest ISD will continue its growth trajectory well into the future.

50,000

+64.16% percent change

30,000 40,000 20,000 10,000 0

2020/21

2023/24 2025/26 2027/28 2029/30

School years

SOURCES: NORTHWEST ISD, GRAPEVINECOLLEYVILLE ISD, KELLER ISD, CARROLL ISD, EAGLE MOUNTAINSAGINAW ISD, ZONDA EDUCATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

2012-13 and the 2017-18 school years. Growth during that same time period for KISD and GCISD was 4.7% and 4.4%, respectively. NISD is also the No. 1 school district in Dallas-Fort Worth based on annual real estate closings, according to Zonda Education. “These are record-breaking num- bers,” Templeton said. “They are slowing, but it’s not going to keep us out of that record territory even with the slowdown.”

NISD Executive Director of Com- munications Anthony Tosie said the district’s Long Range Planning Com- mittee was expected to formally make a recommendation for a May bond election in a meeting held Jan. 23, which was after this edition’s press time.

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

KELLER ROANOKE NORTHEAST FORT WORTH EDITION • JANUARY 2023