Conroe ISD announces $487 million bond proposalConroe ISD might soon add five new schools, four in the Oak Ridge High School feeder zone. The schools are planned after the CISD board of trustees voted to place a $487 million bond referendum with no tax increase included on the Nov. 3 election ballot.


CISD had initially proposed a $511 million bond after studying the district’s facility needs. Superintendent Don Stockton suggested another $5 million worth of upgrades, including 10 new science classrooms at Knox Junior High School, a robotics lab at Caney Creek and College Park high schools, and technical programs at Oak Ridge and Caney Creek high schools.


However, Stockton said the district has retained about $25 million in reserves from previous years’ budgets. That money will be used to fund projects allocated in the initial $511 million plan, bringing the amount the district is hoping to have approved by voters to $487 million, with the difference being allocated for inflation increases in school construction.


“If an elementary school costs $25 million today, a year from now it will cost a little more,” Stockton said.


If the bond is approved by voters, the district will build another high school east of I-45 in south Montgomery County to accommodate that area’s growing population and alleviate overcrowding at ORHS.


Additionally the district will build two elementary schools and an intermediate school in the ORHS feeder zones as more large-scale residential neighborhoods are developed along the Rayford Road corridor.


A new junior high school is also planned for the Conroe High School feeder zone while the district will complete build-out at Stewart Elementary School. Stockton said Stewart Elementary was initially built to accommodate 800 students.


Stockton said results of a recent demographic study found CISD’s student enrollment is expected to increase by as many as 1,700 students per year over the next five years.


The new high school, which will be the fifth in CISD, is targeted to open in 2018, Stockton said. The two elementary schools could open in 2017 while the intermediate school could open in 2018.


“If the bond is approved by voters, the schools will all [open] within two to four years,” Stockton said.


The ability to propose a $480-plus million bond without a tax increase is a result of the increased values of properties within CISD’s boundaries, he said.


CISD’s assessed property value is projected to increase by 10 percent in 2016 over its 2015 assessed valuation, according to the district.


Over the next three years, that value is expected to continue to increase by about 5 or 6 percent annually, Stockton said.