At a Sept. 19 board of trustees meeting, district officials and board members discussed several proposed plans for future facilities considered by LISD’s Long-Range Planning Committee.
Two-minute impact
District officials presented an update on the work of the Long-Range Planning Committee, which is made up of district staff members, parents, community members, students and board members.
In the 2023-24 school year, the committee did the following:
- Explored how to address growth in the northern portion of LISD
- Recommended exploring open enrollment
- Recommended building an early childhood center
- Discussed repurposing elementary campuses in the central portion of the district for New Hope High School and the Leander Extended Opportunity Center
- Recommended a size for future elementary campuses
- Whether to build a joint facility for NHHS and the LEO Center
- When to build Elementary School Nos. 31, 32 and 33
- Whether to open enrollment outside the district
- How to best optimize campus facilities
- Building comprehensive secondary schools or innovative academies
Diving in deeper
The board has discussed opening enrollment at the district’s central and southern schools as some campuses are being underutilized, district officials said. LISD has seen a rise in students residing in its boundaries transferring to attend charter schools in recent school years.
Board members requested district officials begin working on building Elementary School No. 31, which was originally planned to open in 2025 under the district’s 10-year long-range plan. Last year, voters approved funding to build Elementary School Nos. 31 and 32 through the district’s $762.8 million bond election.
“I’m ready for our Long-Range Planning [Committee] to start talking about what those buildings look like ... but then let’s go,” school board President Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia said. “We’re behind schedule. We have schools over here that are at over 100% capacity.”
The district is looking to relocate both NHHS and the LEO Center to the central part of LISD. Last year, the LRPC discussed repurposing two of its underutilized elementary campuses in Cedar Park to serve as new locations for NHHS and LEO.
NHHS Principal Clay Currier said housing both programs at one facility could cause community members to associate NHHS—an alternative, accelerated school intended to help students graduate—with the LEO Center, which serves as the district’s disciplinary alternative education program, or DAEP.
“I think putting them together in one building, it takes us back to this is all just the same thing, and they have different goals,” Gonzales-Dholakia said. “They’re different programs.”
Going forward
The LRPC's subcommittees may now explore next steps in light of the board’s discussion, said Sarah Grissom, LISD deputy superintendent of administrative services and strategic planning.
Open enrollment would need to be established by January to begin next school year, she said.
