Leander school board to continue future bond discussions

Leander ISD board members will continue talks of a future bond election at their July 22 meeting.

The meeting agenda says district administration will answer questions and provide information to the board of trustees's questions from the July 6 special board meeting. A community committee presented a $933.4 million bond recommendation to the board in June.

Recommended projects included construction of several schools, improvements at aging campuses, $94.3 million of technology projects and more campus-specific or districtwide projects.

Board President Trish Bode said July 6 that a bond-related item will stay on the board’s agenda until it is time to call for the bond. She said the hope is to have a continuous discussion. Board talks will go over zoning, major maintenance, financing and schools of choice.

Some board members said they wanted to see rezoning as part of their bond conversations.

“I know it’s a scary thing," board member Anna Smith said. "I don’t want to be rezoned out of my own campus, but at the same time $1 billion is a lot of money."

Trustee Elexis Grimes said a comprehensive zoning conversation would not be easy but would show good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

Board member Jim MacKay also said rezoning is a big issue. MacKay said he likes the idea of splitting the nearly $1 billion recommendation into two bonds.

“Close to a billion dollars is a monumental bite,” MacKay said.

The deadline for the board to call a Nov. 2 election is Aug. 16. No board action was taken at the June 17 or July 6 meetings.