With the May 10 election looming for its $59.1 million bond issue, Hays CISD is setting in motion the plan that will guide its future construction projects.

At a meeting March 31, the Hays CISD trustees could give Deputy Superintendent Carter Scherff approval to negotiate a contract with a team of firms that will be charged with developing the district's five-year capital improvement plan.

The plan would attempt to address, among other issues, inequalities that may exist among schools because of structural reasons.

"It's unrealistic to think we can turn our old schools into new schools, but there are certain things we can do to make things very similar," Superintendent Michael McKie said during a March 24 meeting.

More than two-thirds of the money in the district's bond proposal would fund construction projects—the major one being the $35 million new middle school.

But other structural improvements, such as the replacement of the roof at Buda Elementary School's lower campus, were shucked off the list because the pending facilities study may bring alternative recommendations.

The last time the district contracted a firm to study its facilities was before its 2001 bond issue, Scherff said. Because the district does not have an in-house engineering staff, it does not have the capability to evaluate its buildings, he said.

School officials have mentioned the possibility of a new high school on the horizon for the district of about 17,000 students. New schools are among the recommendations that could be made as part of the study.

"This (study) will be a considerable driver of a lot of what we do over the next five years," Scherff said.