LISD increased enrollment by 1,425 students between the fall of 2020-2021, while it gained a total of 3,554 students from 2016-2021, according to data compiled by Population and Survey Analysts. PASA President Stacey Tepera said it is the fastest-growing district in the area, with Liberty Hill ISD having the second-largest growth in that timespan at 3,163 students.
The district is projected to continue its growth over the next decade, with a moderate estimate of 51,083 students enrolled by 2032. However, LISD population changes vary across its boundaries.
“Essentially, this new data has exacerbated the problem we already have,” Superintendent Bruce Gearing said. “So we have too much growth in the north and declining population in the south. With the new data, what that’s shown is we have more growth in the north than we thought and have more decline in the south than we thought.”
Due to this, in the coming years some schools within the district are expected to be overused while others will be underused. With the new data in mind, Gearing recommended to the board several revisions to LISD’s 10-year long-range plan, starting with rezoning the district’s secondary schools to delay the construction of high school No. 7 until 2029 and middle school No. 10 to 2030. Construction of these schools was initially expected to take place one year earlier.
Delaying the start of construction would allow the project to be included in later bond proposals, Gearing said, but it could also increase the cost of those schools due to the rising prices of building materials. In fact, the estimated cost of constructing high school No. 7 in 2029 is $426 million, according to LISD. For comparison, Glenn High School cost $120 million to build in December 2013.
“It pushes [construction] out far enough that I’m not sure that we’ll know what the environment will be at that time, so I think that’s a risk that we’re willing to take,” Gearing said.
Gearing also recommended the district continue with its construction of elementary school No. 30, which the board recently approved a general maximum price for; and repurpose the Citizens Facility Advisory Committee to engage in community listening projects to develop options for potential future bond packages.
The trustees and LISD staff discussed the process for rezoning secondary schools by 2024-25. The board is expected to vote on a timeline for collecting community input and hosting community forums at its Dec. 8 meeting.
“That secondary rezoning needs to begin immediately,” Gearing said. “So we’ll flow through the next semester and then put it into place for August of 2024. So, folks will have almost a full year’s worth of notice of where your kids are going and what that’s going to like.”
