Approximately $35 million was set aside to construct a new elementary school at the site of the former Ninth Grade Center, located at 659 S. Guenther Ave., as part of the district’s 2018 bond.
Once complete, the campus was expected to accommodate approximately 850 students and replace Carl Schurz and Seele elementary schools, which were built in 1924 and 1950, respectively.
In a Feb. 23 communication to parents, NBISD Superintendent Cade Smith announced that the district had issued a temporary stop-work order at the site after a demographer’s study highlighted rapid growth elsewhere in the district.
According to the district, Klein Road and Voss Farms elementary schools are anticipated to be overcapacity in the upcoming 2022-23 school year. The school’s capacities are 725 students and 750 students, respectively.
Funding to add wings to both schools was included in the 2021 bond, Smith said during the May 9 board meeting, and the additions would increase capacity to 900 students at each campus.
However, Smith said the demographer’s reports show growth within that part of the district is outpacing the current plans for school capacity.
“In 2024, both of those campuses are overcapacity even at 900,” he said. “We've got quite a few campuses that are projected to be overcapacity pretty quick, and we're a fast-growth school district.”
Additionally, New Braunfels Middle School and Oak Run Middle School are expected to be overcapacity by the 2025-26 school year and the 2026-27 school year, respectively.
After evaluating the demographer’s report and campus facilities, Smith said district staff recommended moving the proposed new elementary school to a property owned by the district in the Legend Pond neighborhood.
The new school will provide relief for Klein Road and Voss Farms elementary schools, while the property on Guenther Avenue will become a possible location for a third middle school, Smith said.
“Our next bond, I'm guessing it will probably be 2024, and it will most likely include a middle school to relieve both middle schools, not just one,” he said.
Smith said the plan to build a new school and renovate the existing campuses will cost approximately $65 million, the majority of which will come from remaining bond funds.
An additional $25 million will come from the district’s fund balance, which Clint McLain, assistant superintendent of finance, said will still be above the level recommended by the Texas Education Association after the withdrawal.
“We certainly want to be a school district that does what we say we're going to do,” Smith said. “But we also want to be a school district that can look at the fast growth and the things that we've got going on right now and be able to make recommendations to [the board] to say we weren't able to see what we can see now back in 2018.”
Construction on the new school in Legend Pond is estimated to begin in August and conclude in late 2024. Work on Carl Schurz and Seele elementary schools will likely begin in June 2023 and conclude in May 2024, according to the district.
