Leander ISD is expected to add over 12,000 students in 10 years to its current population of 40,761 students. To meet growth, the Leander school board could call a bond election for as early as November.

About $933 million in projects were recommended to the board of trustees June 17. LISD's Citizens’ Facility Advisory Committee, led by co-chairs Jeremy Trimble and Shaun Cranston, narrowed projects by priority from an original list totaling $1.5 billion.

Projects were focused into four categories:

• Growth: $545.7 million
• Aging schools and infrastructure: $357.4 million
• Technology: $142.5 million
• Choice: $94.3 million

These projects include elementary school, middle school, high school and districtwide projects.

“Everyone is going to have an opportunity to gain from this,” Cranston said.

Elementary school projects include five new schools, renovations and updates at 11 aging schools, and playground improvements at 27 schools. There are over 17,000 elementary students and 7,488 more students are expected to come to LISD through 2031.

Middle school projects include one new school, updates to five aging schools, and cafetorium lighting and sound updates.

High school projects include updates to Cedar Park, Vista Ridge and Leander high schools; a new building for New Hope High School; an early college high school; another school of choice; and fine arts programs. The projects will delay construction on High School No. 7 by creating the schools of choice.

Districtwide projects include $94.3 million in technology projects such as interactive panels, replacing old devices and other improvements. Security updates, safety updates, 139 buses, administration building additions and maintenance and a new south transportation terminal are other districtwide projects.

The bond has a budget between $600 million and $1 billion without needing to increase taxes, Trimble said. Bond savings could be used to reduce the overall cost below $900 million.

Redistricting was brought up between the committee chairs and board members as that would affect district growth plans. Cranston said redistricting should be discussed parallel but independent of the bond projects.

“The reality is that we live in a high-growth district, and one of the curses of being where everybody wants to be is that sometimes it gets crowded,” Cranston said.

The deadline for the board to call a Nov. 2 election is Aug. 16. No board action was taken at the June 17 meeting.