Education
BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY & CONNOR PITTMAN
RISD to issue final $25M from 2021 bond The final amount of authorized funding from Richardson ISD’s 2021 bond, which totaled $750 million, could be sold next year, according to district officials. RISD’s board of trustees received an update on the status of the 2021 bond, which included upgrades for schools; updated technology; and replacement buses and other vehicles. Two-minute impact Superintendent Tabitha Branum said the district has hit a point of substantial completion for its 2021 bond program. Sandra Hayes, RISD assistant superintendent of district operations, said construction is underway on three elementary school construction projects at Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet, Northrich Elementary and Stults Road Elementary. Per meeting documents, the cost for each project is
RISD plans Upstander Partnership Richardson ISD plans to roll out a new initiative, the Upstander Partnership, on a pilot basis in the spring 2025 semester. In a nutshell The Upstander Partnership, which is between RISD and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, includes strategic planning, access to the Upstander Portal and field trips held on school campuses. Angie Lee, RISD executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion, said the district worked with elementary and secondary principals and campus staff to identify a program that made sense for the district. The Upstander Partnership allows access to the Upstander Portal and field trips held on school campuses.
2021 bond-funded improvements
62 replacement school buses
Playground improvements at 17 schools
2 middle school conversions
Technology upgrades
CTE facility improvements
Artificial turf as baseball and softball fields
SOURCE: RICHARDSON ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
$10 million. Work on those three projects is expected to wrap up next summer. Some context Because of higher actual construction costs during the bond program, district officials had to trim the scope of certain improvements. Hayes said some of the district’s projects are coming in under budget, which could allow the district to use some of the $77 million that was set aside to fund additional projects within the bond’s scope.
Plano ISD updates class offerings for 2025-26
Updated class offerings
Equine Science and Introduction to Engineering Design are set to sunset due to low enrollment. According to a staff presentation, many of the new and updated career and technical education courses are being offered to “align with long-range planning for program offerings,” including those at the new CTE center, which is set to open in 2026. Some offerings have also been updated to provide CTE opportunities to students earlier.
Plano ISD is making changes to its middle school, high school and senior high course offer- ings for the 2025-26 school year. Some context Most of the sunset courses are being replaced by the new courses or revised courses, which includes higher level Spanish and American Sign Language courses.
High school
Middle school
New
6
1
Revised
8
14
Sunset
6
2
SOURCE: PLANO ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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