Hays High School’s controversial former fight song will not be returned to the football field. Students voted in November to have a new fight song commissioned, after the previous song was retired in the summer. “Dixie,” the school's previous song, was the subject of debate between some district residents, who felt it conjures slave-era imagery and has been associated with the Confederacy, and others who believe the song promotes school pride. Hays CISD spokesperson Tim Savoy said 58 percent of the Hays High School student body voted to have a new song composed. A student committee will later choose criteria for the new fight song. “It will be one that is customized for the school and written for the school,” Savoy said. Among the next steps will be to choose a composer for the song. Savoy said the budget for commissioning the song is unclear until students narrow down the list of candidates to compose the song. Neil Bonavita, HCISD director of student services, said students have considered the musical themes the fight song should feature. They decided to have a fully orchestrated performance of the song rather than just a solo piano performance, Bonavita said. The students also decided to create the chant for the fight song. Bonavita said a "chant-off" will be held Nov. 17 at the school.

Lehman High School

A new career and technical education facility on the Lehman High School campus is nearly ready to be built. The HCISD board of trustees unanimously approved construction documents Nov. 16 for the Lehman addition. Students will learn trades such as welding in the new classrooms. The new Lehman structure, in addition to other upgrades to HCISD’s career and technical education offerings, accounts for $1.89 million of the $59.1 million in bond money approved in May 2014. But Deputy Superintendent Carter Scherff said bids for the project exceeded by $700,000 the budgeted amount for the building. Scherff said construction companies at the subcontractor level had "extremely elevated" prices for plumbing and concrete. He said HCISD would likely have to dedicate funds from other bond projects that came in under budget. The board will consider approving a maximum price for the project in December.