NEWS BRIEFS
Fort Bend ISD calls largest bond in district’s history at $1.26B for May
BY RENEE FARMER
BOND PROPOSITIONS Fort Bend ISD voters will get to decide on the largest bond in the district’s history this May.
The $1.18 billion Proposition A encompasses construction, security and transportation upgrades, along with a $19.2 million transportation facility. Proposition B would cover nearly $52.5 million for technology updates, and the $22.9 million Proposi- tion C would fund a new district natatorium. “This is when [our public] gets to actually have a serious say in what our school district looks like,” Trustee Angie Hanan said. The bond election will be held during the 2023 general election May 6. Early voting runs April 24 to May 2, and the last day to register for a mail-in ballot is April 25, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s O ce.
Fort Bend ISD voters will get to decide on the largest bond in the district’s history in May. After postponing a decision at a Feb. 13 meeting, FBISD’s board of trustees voted to call an election for a nearly $1.26 billion bond during a Feb. 16 special meeting. A survey of 350 voters presented during the Feb. 13 board meeting found 52% supported a $1.2 billion bond when given no initial information, and 68% supported it when given information. Of the four options presented, district sta rec- ommended the largest package to the board, which will be split into three propositions on the ballot.
Proposition A: $1.18B Construction, security and transportation upgrades Proposition B: $52.5M Technology updates Proposition C: $22.9M New natatorium
TOTAL $1.26B
SOURCE: FORT BEND ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
Sugar Land airport sees development, looks to future
Maternal mortality report highlights gaps in Texas
BY KELLY SCHAFLER
The Sugar Land Regional Airport will open a new feature, while airport o cials are determining future uses for the airport’s unused land. Construction will be completed this spring on the airport’s new community hangar, and construction began in December on the nal phase of the new parallel taxiway. The taxiway and hangar project costs $40.9 million. Work on the hangar portion of the project began in January 2021, and a ribbon-cutting for the new hangar will be held in April, said Elizabeth Rosenbaum, director of aviation at the Sugar Land Regional Airport. “The hangar is going to be some- thing really exciting—something you don’t see a hangar usually look like,” she said. “It emulates our terminal building; it’s going to stand out and
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BY HANNAH NORTON
In 2019, at least 118 Texas women died while pregnant or within one year after childbirth, leaving over 180 children without mothers. Nearly half of these deaths were caused by pregnancy-related complications. But 90% of pregnancy-related deaths that occurred in 2019 were pre- ventable, per a report released Dec. 15 from the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. The committee recommended improving behavioral and mental health care before, during and after pregnancy; expanding state programs to address partner violence; and increasing coordination between maternal and emergency services.
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Sugar Land Regional Airport began work in December on the last phase of its parallel taxiway project. (Courtesy Sugar Land Regional Airport)
Rosenbaum said she hopes can be used for commercial developments to help diversify revenues to fund future air eld development. The airport surveyed airport customers, tenants and residents in December and January to gain insight on what residents would like to see on the sites. There were over 200 responses, Rosenbaum said.
be a beautiful facility.” The parallel taxiway project, which has been in the works for more than 10 years, was split into four phases. Construction on the fourth and nal phase will wrap up in spring 2024, Rosenbaum said. Meanwhile, airport o cials are still determining the use of ve tracts of land at the airport, which
Fort Bend ISD trustees approve attendance boundaries for Travis, Austin, Kempner high schools
BY RENEE FARMER
The district’s School Boundary Oversight Committee created iter- ations of the attendance map and conducted a survey before bringing its nal map to the board. Their goal was to relieve overutilization of schools and balance enrollment. The Brazos Bend Elementary School attendance community will move from Travis High School to Austin High School. Students will still attend
Sartartia Middle School. All students in the Fleming Elementary School atten- dance community will feed to Hodges Bend Middle School and Kempner High School, absorbing the 15% that were fed to Garcia Middle School and Austin High. The Holley Elementary School community will now feed all students to Hodges Bend Middle and Bush High School. The 2% who fed to Garcia
Middle and Austin High will be moved to Oyster Creek Elementary. The 40% of Patterson Elementary School students who were previously fed to Bowie Middle School and Travis High will now join the other 60% who attend Crockett Middle School. Sartartia Middle students will no lon- ger be fed to Travis High but instead be split solely between Austin High and Clements High School.
In an e ort to relieve overutili- zation, Fort Bend ISD has changed attendance boundaries for three of its Sugar Land-area high schools. The board of trustees approved an update to attendance boundaries for the Travis, Austin and Kempner high schools’ feeder patterns during its Feb. 13 meeting. The updates will take e ect in the 2023-24 school year.
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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • MARCH 2023
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