2023 EDUCATION EDITION
not increase the property tax rate and would address the district’s most pressing needs, such as capacity chal- lenges and dwindling state funding, Board President Victor Perez said in an Aug. 1 news release. The largest portion of the bond pack- age is Proposition A at $722.99 million. Projects include purchasing land and constructing three elementary schools and one junior high in the northwest area of the district; renovating aging campuses throughout the district; installing security fencing; upgrading security cameras; purchasing school buses; and updating building compo- nents districtwide. Proposition B is the next most cost-signi cant piece of the bond pro- gram at $83.57 million. This includes working to provide each student with a district-monitored laptop for instruc- tional use for students in grades 3-12. Trustee Lance Redmon, who was a committee member on the commu- nity bond advisory committee, said the 1-to-1 device model was pitched and approved because of requirements that the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, be
administered online. Proposition C, priced at $4.2 million, would renovate competition swim- ming pools, called natatoriums, at high school campuses. Finally, Proposition D encompasses repairs to districtwide athletic facilities and Rhodes Stadium. This item would cost $29.88 million. Community responsibility Should the bond pass, KISD would continue a streak of taking on hun- dreds of millions in bonds every two to three years. This strategy was con- fronted by Perez, who said voters may grow fatigued of the continuous ask. “When you look at the big picture of where we came from, where we’re going and where we continue to go, the concern is just kind of the bond on top of bonds,” Perez said at the July 24 workshop. “We’re building fewer schools, but we’re having to feed the existing schools and then add the tech- nology, so it’s a concern of mine in terms of … the debt.” In May 2021, voters approved a $676.2 million bond with similar projects—including six new schools, expansions, technology, safety, buses,
Katy ISD has gained more students since 2017-18 than other Greater Houston-area school districts—adding 15,145 students from then to 2022-23. To compare, Lamar CISD—another rapidly growing district—gained 10,315 students in that timeframe.
120K 100K 60K 80K
20K 40K
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*PROJECTED ENROLLMENT SOURCES: POPULATION AND SURVEY ANALYSTS, KATY ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
and portable buildings for over-capac- ity schools. According to district docu- ments, 83% of those projects have been completed or are in planning. KISD Chief Financial O cer Christo- pher Smith said although the process of putting together bond packages may cause administrative fatigue, a 2023 bond would help the district avoid student overcrowding and pre- vent additional pressure on the general operating fund. At the July 24 board of trustees
meeting, Fox said the district must continue to rise to the standard the Katy community expects of KISD. “Everybody moves to Katy because our schools are so successful,” Fox said. “For us to be visionary and duciary and to ask our community what kind of school district they want, … we have to take care of it.”
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KATY SOUTH FULSHEAR EDITION • AUGUST 2023
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