The update to the Comal ISD proposed 2023 bond was provided to the board of trustees and members of staff during a workshop Jan. 12.
An overview of the Comal Forward Committee, which makes a recommendation on bond project findings, was discussed. The committee looked at demographic projections, growth needs and current construction market challenges. They also received presentations from various departments throughout the district.
“This was the fourth Comal Forward Committee that I've been apart of, and the energy with this group has really been great; the questions they ask have been very insightful, ... and I think it's a testament the fact that we brought so many new voices in,” said Steve Stanford, Comal ISD assistant superintendent for communications and organizational development.
The committee partnered with the Huckabee design firm, which introduced a process and framework for reaching a consensus and narrowing down the project list. The committee was polled with 80% in support of the bond. Some of the projects that were prioritized by the Comal Forward Committee were safety and security, additional schools, land acquisition and additional buses.
The committee surveyed 300 potential voters to measure initial levels of support for individual bond propositions and testing ballot language. The survey also measured support for bond amounts and their tax impact. Of those polled, 29% were parents with students enrolled in Comal ISD with 71% not having students in the district.
The leading reason those surveyed voted against the $600 million bond election is due to not wanting taxes to increase; 48% of those polled were against the $600 million bond election.
In the proposed 2023 bond, Proposition A may total over $551 million and consist of three new elementary schools and one middle school to provide relief to other campuses reaching student capacity; $28 million would also go toward land acquisition to anticipate future campus needs for one new elementary, one new middle and one new high school; $16 million would go toward safety and security throughout the district as well as toward 40 new school buses. Athletic facilities, including additional tennis courts at Davenport High School and renovations to the baseball field at Smithson Valley High School, are proposed projects on Proposition A.
“So we know that with the growth coming that we're going to need another elementary, middle school and high school, although right now these aren't specifically tied to any one specific area of the district,” Stanford said. “We just know that we can opened up the paper tomorrow and see that a developer is going to kick off a new development. And so this is just to keep us in the ready and keep us so we can respond and react when we do see where those next periods of rapid growth are coming.”
Proposition B may consist of additional improvements to athletic facilities throughout the high schools in the district. Totaling nearly $9 million, Proposition C would consist of bleacher replacement and expansion at Davenport High and Canyon Lake High School. Proposition D would fund technology equipment throughout the district, including updated classroom AV devices, new technology devices for students and faculty, and enhanced Wi-Fi.
A majority of the respondents supported $600 million in bonds knowing they would be financed without an increase in the property tax rate. CISD is still reviewing projects and considering how much the May bond will be.
The district will have another workshop on the 2023 proposed bond Feb. 15 and plans to call for the bond election during its February 23 regular board of trustees meeting.
“As the board of trustees, you do have the power to make whatever determinations that need to be made because you do have some insight, you do have background that others may not know,” CISD Superintendent John E. Chapman III said. “So that when you do raise your hand and you raise your hand with confidence.”
