Conroe - Montgomery Edition | January 2022

EDUCATION

Updates on key school stories

2 0 2 2 A N N U A L C O M M U N I T Y G U I D E

TOP EDUCATION STORIES TO WATCH IN 2022

Conroe ISDprojects address rapid growth in 2022 CONROE ISD Several projects are underway in Conroe ISD to alleviate crowding in schools as a result of increased enrollment. In August, Annette Gordon Reed Elementary School will open, provid- ing relief for crowding in Giesinger BY ALLY BOLENDER

Student center wrapping up Lone Star College-Montgomery’s new student services center is anticipated to be completed and in use by late February or early March, LSC- Montgomery President Rebecca Riley said. The new student services center will have a conference center and a student part of the building, which will house counseling, advising, nancial aid, a business oce and a testing center. The building will have a coee bar as well, Riley said. Virtual school in discussion Hedith Upshaw, Conroe ISD assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the district is in the process of looking at what options are available to create a virtual school. In the 2020-21 school year, CISD initially had plans to create a virtual school but put the project on hold after virtual schooling measures were not approved in the state legislative session. The virtual school remains on the 2022-23 school year budget. LSC-Magnolia Center coming soon Rebecca Riley, Lone Star College- Montgomery president, said she expects the design phase will start this spring for LSC-Montgomery’s satellite center, LSC-Magnolia Center, to be located at the corner of FM 1774 and FM 1486. She said construction will likely begin on the 50,000-square- foot center in late 2022 or 2023 and be completed in 2024 with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning instructional lab; training space for paramedic programs; and computer and science labs.

and Stewart elementary schools. The district’s enrollment in the 2021-22 school year as of December was 68,096, which is 2,600 more students than the previous school year, and it included 2,000 students more than the projected enrollment, according to CISD Deputy Superin- tendent Chris Hines. Conroe High School is the fourth-largest high school in Texas with 4,600 students and growing by about 200 students each year. The district will wrap up additions and expansions to Conroe High School Ninth Grade Campus in 2022. “I anticipate we’ll outgrow that in just a couple of years the way we’re growing,” Hines said.

CONROE ISD 5YEAR ENROLLMENT GROWTH

According to Conroe ISD ocials, the district is one of the fastest growing in Texas with a growth of 1,200 to 1,500 students each year. SOURCES: CONROE ISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Trustees to vote onMay bonds

also include about $75 million for districtwide facility upgrades, $21 million for technology upgrades in all class- rooms and funds for athletic renovations. “When they were focused on facility upgrades, ... they wanted to make sure they touched every campus through- out the district,” Lynn said. Lynn said town halls are slated for Jan. 26 at Montgomery High School and Feb. 2 at Lake Creek High School to inform the community before trustees vote in February. Lynn said estimates show a bond could increase MISD’s interest and sinking tax rate by less than $0.01. In WISD, Superintendent Tim Harkrider said trustees are poised to vote Feb. 9 whether to call a bond election. WISD Director of Communications Jamie Fails also said the district is on track to complete several projects from its 2020 bond, including its Roark Early Education Center, which will begin registering students in March. Elementary gym additions and the Lynn Lucas Middle School expan- sion are anticipated to nish this summer.

BY ANNA LOTZ

MONTGOMERY ISD&WILLIS ISD Ocials in Montgomery and Willis ISDs are slated to receive bond recommendations from district committees in January and February, respectively, before trustees vote at February meetings whether to place a bond election on the May 7 ballots to fund new facilities and renovations. Members of MISD’s citizen advisory committee were anticipated to present bond project recommendations to the board of trustees Jan. 18, which was after press time Jan. 17. The recommendations as of press time totaled $326.9 million, including constructing a seventh elemen- tary school, a 900-student addition to Lake Creek High School, and centralized career and technical education and agricultural science centers, said Kris Lynn, assistant super- intendent of nance and operations. The recommendations

1486

249

1774

1488

Information Meeting January 24th 9:00 AM February 28th 6:30 PM

Partnering with parents to inspire and prepare college-worthy character witnesses for Christ.

www.legacypca.org • Facebook.com/legacypca

9768 Research Forest • The Woodlands, TX • 936.337.2000

CONROE MONTGOMERY EDITION • JANUARY 2022