From the new stadium to five new schools, the majority of the projects approved under the 2014 bond package are beginning construction this year. The first of the bonds were sold to investors in February, and Katy residents were given priority in purchasing them.

At a June 2 roundtable meeting Superintendent Alton Frailey said most projects are proceeding as scheduled, with a few delays due to heavy rains in May and

June. The start date for construction on the district’s new stadium has been moved to sometime this fall.

“We’re clearing land as soon as it dries out, but work is behind [schedule] because of the rain,” Frailey said.

The $58 million Rhodes Stadium site complex at 1733 Fort Bend Road was initially scheduled to begin construction in June.

Five of the six new schools began construction between February and May. The remaining elementary school is slated to begin construction in 2017, according to KISD bond package records.

On June 15, a representative with architectural firm Stantec presented the design for the district’s largest renovation project, the nearly $23.5 million reconstruction of Memorial Parkway Junior High School at 21203 Highland Knolls Drive.

Project Director Laura Sachtelben has managed previous district renovations and said the eight-phase renovation would not affect classes or activities, despite timeline estimates that span from as early as this November through perhaps 2018.*

Major construction

Three of the largest activity facilities projects slated for development are the new stadium complex, the $16 million South Transportation Center at 3151 Falcon Landing Blvd. and a $22.5 million expansion to the Gerald G. Young Agricultural Sciences Center at 5825 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road.

The stadium project, led by architectural firm VLK and Stewart Builders, will include 12,000 seats, a two-story press box and a Live Action Media Broadcast System that district students in the audio engineering and film programs will learn to operate.

Janet Thomason, president of the Katy Parents of Gifted and Talented organization, served on the November 2013 bond committee that established the funding parameters and set the facility priority list for the 2014 bond measure. 

“The big argument was the stadium,” Thomason said. “You’re never going to come to a consensus on that. Everyone has projects and other programs they want. But I want [board members and administrators] to think outside the box and solve the facility issues in an efficient way. I trust them to do their job.”

At the June meeting, Frailey said the stadium would provide overcrowding relief for the current stadium, particularly as a new high school in Ventana Lakes opens in 2017. By district estimates, the stadium will bring in more than $500,000 annually through ticket sales and concessions. It will also be used for arts fairs, festivals and other sporting events such as soccer.

Frailey said the South Transportation Center, which is scheduled to begin construction as early as October 2015 and is set to open December 2016, is vital to providing more efficient bus service to the southwest quadrant of the district. He said buses now run out of the transportation center north of I-10, which means drivers must travel long distances to service schools on the south side or to transport those students to field trips and sporting events.

Bus service, or the lack thereof, was a hotly debated topic during the 2015 board of trustees election held May 9. Prior to the election, prominent “hiring drivers” ads were placed on the district website and recruiting efforts were ramped up to hire more drivers.

“Qualification [for bus drivers] is difficult,” Frailey said. “We provide paid training and go above and beyond with things like barbecue lunches [to let them know they are appreciated] … the split shift can be a challenge [for drivers].”

The agricultural center expansion is the third major project budgeted in the 2014 bond. The existing center contains seven barns—one for each high school—in which Future Farmers of America students raise animals. Four new spaces will provide collaborative learning space and room for a farmers market to sell products. A 5,000-seat outdoor arena, pavilion and eco-pond will host the district’s annual livestock and rodeo show and provide additional outdoor learning experiences for FFA students. The estimated timeline for the project is March 2016 through August 2017.

Purchasing debt

Katy residents were given priority when the first bond installment was sold on Feb. 2. [polldaddy poll=8991674]

Clarence Grier, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets, was on the team that coordinated the sale of the first $180 million transaction. Other members of the team include KISD CFO Christopher J. Smith and representatives from J.P. Morgan, the underwriter for the majority of the bonds.

At a Feb. 9 presentation to the KISD board of trustees, Grier said about $290,000 of the first installment was purchased by Katy area residents.

“We were very mindful that this being the first installment ... Katy residents were given first priority,” Grier said.

In total Grier said roughly $4.6 million in bonds were sold to individual investors. Katy residents were able to make purchases through an investment broker just as they would purchase stocks or mutual funds. Grier said several residents invested as much as $20,000 each.

“We were very mindful of the fact we’d probably have a lot of first time municipal bondholders who would have a lot of questions. [Christoper J. Smith] and his team included Edward Jones as well as Fidelity [to assist investors] because they have offices within Katy,” Grier said. “So people [had] a place to actually come in—there’s a place provided for them to get their questions answered.”

KISD is on a three- to four-year bond schedule, although Frailey said bonds are not always proposed each cycle. For example, 2009 was scheduled as a bond year but it was pushed to 2010. Frailey said the next available bond window is 2017 or 2018.

“I think people expect the minute [a bond] is approved all of the money is instantly going to be spent,” Thomason said. “You’re never going to come up with a perfect plan that pleases everyone, but the big thing we had to keep in mind is keeping up with growth.”

The district maintains detailed construction updates and financial transparency reports with full official budgets and annual spending reports going back to 2008 at www.katyisd.org.