The board of trustees approved the funding at a Feb. 1 meeting following the recommendations of the district’s bond oversight committee.
The breakdown
Leander ISD allocated the following funding amounts to these projects on Feb. 1:
CR 175
- Cost: $2 million
- Funding source: bond project savings
- Scope of work: the widening and reconstruction of CR 175 from RM 2243 to south of Creek Meadow Drive
- Cost: $4.15 million
- Funding source: capital projects interest earnings
- Scope of work: additional portables and related infrastructure
- Cost: $32.3 million
- Funding source: capital projects interest earnings
- Scope of work: additional renovations to athletic facilities
Voters approved $23.5 million to redesign Leander High School’s athletics facilities in 2023; however, a district committee later determined additional renovations were needed to improve access and security for public events, according to district documents.
The additional $32.3 million in funding will go toward moving the school’s auxiliary gym from the back to the front of the campus next to the competition gym and performing arts center, Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Disler said. This will improve security by isolating all after school activities to one section of the campus, he said.
Construction on Phase 1 of the master plan is expected to begin this summer, LISD Assistant Director of Communications Daniel Cernero said.
In August, ECHS will move out of the ACC San Gabriel Campus and into 18 portables next to the campus's building, Bond Oversight Committee Chair Jon Lux said. The move comes as ACC San Gabriel’s enrollment more than doubled since ECHS opened at the campus in 2022, ECHS Principal Clay Currier said.
Additionally, the district will partner with Williamson County to reconstruct and widen CR 175 as the road runs near 239 acres of district-owned land, according to district documents. LISD plans to open Elementary School No. 31, Middle School No. 10 and High School No. 7 in the area, Cernero said.
Williamson County is funding $27 million for the project through its recently approved $825 million road projects bond and expects to begin construction in 2026, said Connie Odom, the county’s director of communications and media relations.
CR 175 runs between two district-owned sites; however, the new design shows the road veering away from the district’s properties to connect with the realignment of RM 2243. District officials will discuss improving access to district sites with the county, Superintendent Bruce Gearing said.
Also of note
The board approved releasing $13.9 million in 2023 bond funds for modernizations to Bagdad Elementary, which was built in 1999.
The campus will receive new major building subsystems, such as roofing and air conditioning, with construction expected to begin this summer, according to the district's website.
