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A district-wide projection shows that Elgin Independent School District is going to need another bond approved to better prepare for its influx of students.
Superintendent of Schools Jana Rueter introduced the Citizen’s Bond Committee during a recent School Board meeting, tasked with helping the district plan for its anticipated growth. The team came up with a $375 million recommendation.
Taxpayers are not expected to see a tax rate increase because of the bond.
Due to Elgin ISD’s rapid growth and financial responsibility with previous bond debt, the district will sell bonds for the included projects without increasing the I&S rate as bonding capacity allows, according to Rueter.
“This was a lot more challenging than two years ago, for a lot of reasons, but we’ve got a moving target,” said Barry Barker, committee member.
Even with the two new elementary schools and high school expansions from the 2021 bond finishing up soon, the district’s schools face a tremendous capacity problem, according to Barker.
“The numbers don’t lie, we need help everywhere. There’s only two things that seem to be concrete… we will get more students, and we don’t have room for them,” said Barker.
A projected 4,200 students are expected across Elgin ISD schools in 2025, about 106% of the district’s capacity. Within six years that number should boom to around 7,000 students, or 173% capacity, with intermediate schools to be the most out of balance, according to the study.
“Basically, where do you put the Band-Aids? Because we don’t have enough money for everything,” added Barker.
The committee presented a substantial $375 million bond recommendation, considering just low or medium growth scenarios.
The proposed bond includes a new elementary school, new middle school, high school capacity improvements, priority maintenance, intermediate school upgrades, land acquisition, general campus upgrades, CTE additions including a press box, athletics improvements including astroturf, additional busses and a second phase of renovations for the new transportation building.
“Hopefully everything passes, but if it doesn’t, there will be a lot of kids sitting on the floor eating lunch in a couple of years,” said Barker.
The group tried to cut all excess, but found some topics controversial, like the press box. Elgin’s press box is about 20 years old now, and an updated version could potentially allow the city to host playoff matches and also be used as an AV classroom, according to Barker.
Considering how long it takes to start construction after a bond has been issued, the committee doesn’t recommend waiting any longer.
The team was waiting to see if construction costs would plateau or go down, but with the Samsung Austin Semiconductor Facility taking up so many raw materials, commercial construction prices have remained strong, added Barker.
“It’s just a challenge,” said the committee member.
The group met six times over that past four months, representing the entire community in the bond planning process. They prioritized the district’s current and longterm facility needs with a focus on growth and capacity, reviewed a summary of educational needs and developed a fiscally sound recommendation to the Board for the bond approval process, according to Rueter.
Over 40 individuals were invited to join the committee, nominated to ensure a diverse selection of district staff, parents, community and business leaders.
“This was including varying perspectives from the entire community with diverse backgrounds and geographic representation, because that is very important to the process,” said the superintendent.
