Fort Bend ISD voters eye bond package

Fate of $992.6M plan to be decided by fall referendum

Fort Bend ISD voters this fall will decide the fate of a $992.6 million bond proposal to fund a wide range of construction and other needs in the fast-growing district.

The district’s board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to schedule the bond referendum, the first of two coming to $1.7 billion, for Nov. 6. The measure would pay for several new schools, technology upgrades, security measures and new school buses.

“I believe our community understands the importance of making our facilities safer, improving our technology offerings and building new facilities to meet the demands of our continued growth,” board president Jason Burdine said at a recent trustee meeting. The district includes part of Pearland’s Shadow Creek Ranch master-planned community.

The bond package includes $403.4 million for new construction projects including three new elementary schools and a $178 million high school in the Sienna Plantation area near Missouri City. Bond proceeds would also pay to rebuild Lakeview Elementary School in Sugar Land and Meadows Elementary in Meadow’s Place, to build classroom additions at two Richmond campuses — Madden Elementary and Neill Elementary schools — and to design a new middle school.

The measure has $396.5 million for upgrades, repairs and renovations to various existing campuses.

Workshop agenda documents indicate four high schools are slated for renovations: Elkins High School ($22.4 million), Kempner High School ($21.4 million), Austin High School ($19.2 million); and Clements High School ($15.2 million). Administrators propose gutting Clements to make structural repairs. Middle-school renovations would total approximately $96.2 million, with the largest allocations going to Hodges Bend Middle School ($12.6 million), First Colony Middle School ($12.6 million) and Quail Valley Middle School ($10.5 million).

The bond package contains $142.6 million for technology upgrades and investments to include new computers for district staff, new laptops and/or tablets for students to use in their classrooms and additional devices that students can check out at the school library for home use. The package would pay for $14.9 million in safety and security upgrades and investments, as well as $10.6 million for new school buses and other transportation-related expenses.

If voters approve the measure, the tax rate could rise by 3 cents to $1.35 per $100 of property valuation by 2020, agenda documents state.

The bond planning process started last September when trustees awarded a $835,298 contract to PBK Architecture to draw up a five-year facilities assessment to evaluate the district’s schools and facilities. The following month, the board hired Scott Leopold, a partner from consultant company Cooperative Strategies, to lead a months-long planning process and coordinate town hall meetings. Leopold’s company was hired by Jacobs Project Management after trustees approved a $247,129 contract amendment.

The district’s current debt is estimated to be $963.5 million as of this past July 1.

Early voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 2 and continue until Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 6.