ABILENE, TX – With 68,000 residential lots planned throughout the Hays school district, Superintendent Eric Wright said the district is calling for a $238.4 million bond package that will help schools brace for growth.
“This (growth) will continue,” Wright said. “We are one of the fastest-growing school districts, and to keep on pace with growth, these projects are needed.”
The bond referendum has six propositions with money to accommodate the population boom expected to resume once the coronavirus pandemic subsides: renovate and rehabilitate facilities, expand and improve athletic stadiums and facilities, streamline administrative functions, and pay for technology.
Proposition A
Proposition A, which totals $147.9 million, is designed to accommodate growth with several renovation and expansion projects across the district and land acquisitions.
The largest portion of the funding, $38.4 million, would have allocations for a new 900-student elementary school in the Sunfield subdivision in Buda. The Sunfield school would open in August 2022.
Another $15.3 million would be dedicated to expanding Negley and Elm Grove elementary schools.
Demographic data show the district’s elementary school capacity to be 10,864 students, which the district expects to exceed in the 2023-24 school year without the new elementary school and expansions to the two campuses.
The district’s six middle school campuses also are expected to exceed capacity — 4,950 students — by the 2024-25 school year under current campus capacity and growth projections.
But rather than asking to build a seventh middle school, Wright said the district would like voters to approve $49.2 million in Proposition A for expansion and improvements at the existing middle schools that would allow each campus to accommodate about 1,200 students.
The remainder of the $147.9 million in Proposition A would be used to renovate and expand the district’s accelerated learning program at the Live Oak Academy, renovate science labs at Hays High School, set up an orchestra program at each middle school and replace other instruments, add two tennis courts to the Lehman High School campus, and purchase 28 new school buses. It also includes $3.7 million to purchase land for schools or facilities.
Wright said many of those projects would help in getting more students involved in extracurricular activities.
“We try to get every kid involved in extracurriculars for their mental well-being,” Wright said. “And so that they have a group they can hang out with so their social and emotional needs are also taken care of.”
Propositions B, C and D
More than $41 million in facility maintenance and upgrades is allocated in Proposition B, which includes improvements to campus fire alarms and heating and air conditioning systems, and keyless entry for staffers and administrators.
Stadium expansions and improvements are broken up into Proposition C, at $12.7 million, and Proposition D, at $4.2 million.
Proposition C has more long-range projects and asks voters to decide on whether to approve varsity-level football stadiums at each of the high schools or to keep one central varsity-level stadium.
Max Cleaver, chief operations officer for the district, said all varsity-level games have been played at Bob Shelton Stadium on the Hays High School campus.
But the district anticipates one day building a fourth high school with a football stadium and accommodate the growing number of spectators at varsity games for Lehman and Johnson high schools. Proposition C would allow the district to increase stadium capacity to 4,200 seats at each campus and set a precedent for a new high school stadium.
“The number of spectators at varsity games for (Lehman and Johnson) hovered between 3,800 to 4,000 prepandemic,” Cleaver said. “So to bring up each of the campuses to varsity capacity, we will need 700 additional seats. It’s board thinking.”
Proposition D allocates money for additional campus parking for the new baseball and softball complex and a new competition-size band practice area at Hays High, as well as improvements to the baseball and softball complex at Lehman High.
Propositions E and F
The bond package includes $29.8 million in Proposition E to construct a larger administration building that will house all of the central office staff in one building and $2.5 million in Proposition F for technology upgrades and more mobile devices across the district.
Wright said the pandemic taught the district a lot about virtual learning, so officials plan to implement blended-learning models in classrooms with the purchase of more mobile devices, which will increase flexibility with more learning tools for families and teachers.
The district’s tax rate of $1.4037 per $100 of taxable value will not increase with the bond package. However, as property values increase, so will the amount homeowners will see on their annual tax bills.
If approved, construction projects would begin in June 2021 with a three-year buildout timeline for total completion, Wright said.
Early voting will run through Tuesday. Election day is Saturday. Hays County has voting centers during early voting and on election day, which means residents may vote at any open polling place in the county.
