The Leander ISD school board approved the sale of $206 million in bonds Sept. 19 to help fund the construction of High School No. 6, high school science labs, the design of Elementary School No. 25 and other major capital projects.

The board was split on the decision, with trustees Lisa Mallory, Will Streit and Vice President Aaron Johnson voting against the bond sale. Staff presented two bond sale scenarios at the meeting, one for the approved $206 million and another for $155 million.

The funds will be used to design and construct High School No. 6 near the Benbrook Ranch subdivision in Leander and also to add science labs at four high schools and design Elementary School No. 25, which is slated for the area around existing LISD buildings near downtown Leander.

Johnson questioned whether the bond sale would compromise the district's ability to borrow and build schools in the future. Streit said he was concerned the district was not getting enough new capacity for the amount of bonds proposed to be sold.

"I have reservations about spending $200 million for so few seats," Streit said. "For the amount of incremental spending, I'm not comfortable with the number of seats [capacity] and not knowing how many seats we are going to need."

Major maintenance, plant services and HVAC and roof repairs are also included in the bond sale, which is set for January. Most items will be sold in the form of capital appreciation bonds, or CABs, which defer payment until the maturity of the bond. About $17.7 million in technology purchases and $890,000 in bus purchases were made using current interest bonds, or CIBs, which carry incremental interest and principal payments similar to a home mortgage.

A total of $22.8 million remains unsold from the 2007 voter-approved bonds.