Originally published Sept. 23, 2022, on the Houston Chronicle website at https://tinyurl.com/yc4fs5zv.
By Roy Kent
Staff writer
Residents within Lamar CISD’s borders are being asked to pass a bond package worth more than $1.5 billion in the November 2022 election.
The announcement follows the district board of trustees meeting on Aug. 22 where board members voted to call for the election.
The bonds are broken up in five different propositions addressing safety and technology as well as plans for a new football stadium. Also in the bond issues are plans for eight new campuses. There are currently 47 campuses serving 42,000 students.
In advance of the bond election, a series of public meetings have been scheduled to provide information and answer questions.
The need for the bonds comes as Lamar CISD has already seen “significant” growth in the last five years and projections for the district indicate a huge jump in enrollment by 2031. Following a jump of 1,363 students year-over-year in the 2020-21 school year, the district reports it has gained 6,827 students over the previous five years. That represents grown of more than 10.8 percent of the student body.
“We always talk about how the growth is coming, but it is clear that the growth is here now,” Lamar CISD Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said in a news release.
According to the district, the growth in Lamar CISD is the highest in the state of Texas. The district’s demographers, Population And Survey Analysts indicate that for the second year Lamar CISD “had the greatest number of new housing starts of any school district in Houston metro and the state of Texas. In the 12-month period ending in December 2021, Metrostudy reported 5,477 new single-family housing starts in Lamar CISD. This figure represents a 30.4 percent increase from the previous year.”
The growth in the Fort Bend County district bucks the statewide trend which reportedly saw public school enrollment drop by more than 2 percent.
Town hall meetings
The district has set a series of Town Hall meetings to provide information on the district’s 2022 Bond Propositions. The in-person meetings will be held at each high school located within the district boundaries. For more information about the 2022 Bond Propositions visit www.LCISDBond2022.org .
Meetings will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. at:
• Fulshear High School, 9302 Charger Way, Fulshear, on Sept. 28.
• Lamar Consolidated High School, 4606 Mustang Ave., Rosenberg, on Oct. 3.
• Randle High School, 7600 Koeblen Road, Richmond, on Oct. 10.
• Terry High School, 5500 Avenue N., Rosenberg, on Oct. 12.
• George Ranch High School, 8181 FM 762, Richmond, on Oct. 17.
• Foster High School, 4400 FM 723, Richmond, on Oct. 19.
Propositions
According to information from the school district, the propositions include a wide variety of items meant to address aging infrastructure as well as meet the needs of the expanding school district.
• Proposition A addresses several areas including adding and upgrading security at every campus, building new campuses to address student growth, adding to existing campuses to increase capacity and improving technology infrastructure across the district.
The cost of this bond is more than $1.3 billion.
• Proposition B will determine whether the district should move forward with building a Career and Technology Center, which would house vocational programs such as Applied Agricultural Engineering, Culinary Arts, Construction Architecture, and many other CTE-related programs.
“Career and Technical Education focuses on the development of skilled workers, including those workers in the fields of infrastructure, health care, and manufacturing,” said Kayse Lazar, Lamar CISD executive director of College, Career & Military Readiness Career & Technical Education.
The cost of this bond is more than $189 million.
• Proposition C includes “replacing more than 7,000 student laptops and more than 500 staff laptops, replacing 4,000 desktop computers and 250 iPads. It also includes upgrades to 600 classroom interactive flat panels and upgrades internal digital signage capability at 35-plus campuses which will improve safety and security communication allowing campuses to instantly communicate to students and staff in the event of an emergency. And lastly, it includes equipment to increase services at the district’s Graphic Arts Center that teachers and staff use.”
The cost of this bond is nearly $16.8 million.
• Proposition D addresses upgrading lighting and turf at the Traylor Stadium, which originally opened in 1960. Its current turf was installed in 2013 with a projected lifespan of 10 years. Upgrading the lighting is needed, according to the district’s athletic director.
“The district can no longer purchase light fixtures to replace broken lights at the stadium. Updating lights and poles to current LED standards would facilitate a potential cost saving on energy usage,” Athletic Director Nikki Nelson said.
The cost of this bond is more than $4.9 million.
• Proposition E seeks voter approval for the purchase of land and the construction of a second stadium. The proposed stadium would be a 10,000 seat stadium and will include band storage, locker rooms and CTE classrooms.
With six high schools currently sharing Traylor Stadium and a seventh high school under construction, a second stadium would help alleviate scheduling pressures as the district competes in three different districts.
The cost of this bond is more than $194.9 million.
Financial impact
Lamar CISD’s current tax rate is $1.24. The district reports the taxable value grew 24 percent this year. It is anticipated that if the district maintains an average 8 percent growth in taxable value, among other factors, it is “unlikely that the district will have to increase the total tax rate.”
But if the district experiences a drop to 7 percent taxable property value growth and assuming all five propositions are approved, the 2022 Bond Package would be projected to increase annual property taxes by approximately 1.5 cents on every $100 of taxable property value per year, or approximately $42.75 per year for a $325,000 home.
Early voting is Oct. 24-Nov. 4 and Election Day is Nov. 8.
Courtesy of Lamar CISD Athletics
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