A districtwide stadium and a community welcome center are two potential future projects for Celina ISD as the district faces fast growth in the coming years.

The overview

Celina ISD’s long-range facility planning committee presented the two recommendations during a May 20 board meeting. The group was made up of CISD parents, teachers, staff, students and community members.

The committee’s charge was to develop recommendations for CISD by exploring what the district is to become in the future. The group had about 40 members regularly meet throughout the 2023-24 school year, and it toured neighboring district facilities, including Denton, McKinney and Prosper ISDs, said Ken Helvey, a senior associate of N2 Learning who facilitated the planning committee.

The details

Key areas explored by the committee were early childhood education; fine arts programs; science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs; athletics; and community engagement.

Recommendations presented by committee members for early childhood education and the district’s elementary school model included:

• A dedicated early childhood school designed specifically as a safe, developmentally appropriate, inclusive, language-rich and nurturing environment
• An elementary school model designed specifically as a safe, developmentally appropriate, inclusive and single-story building with collaborative spaces indoor and outside the school

For fine arts and STEM programs, committee recommendations were:

• Creating a dedicated STEM space at each school level, including elementary, middle and high schools
• Creating a centralized performing arts center for the district

The committee presented three recommendations for athletics:

• Four athletics gyms per high school, with three dedicated for practice space and one competition gym
• A districtwide, olympic-size natatorium for swimming and diving
• A districtwide stadium for football, soccer and other events

Recommendations for a family welcome and community center as well as professional development were:

• A professional development and multipurpose facility to include community rooms and a welcome center
• A separate multistory administrative building to house administrative staff, hold board meetings and have space for an IT data center

A welcome center would provide a central place for new community members to learn about CISD and could hold testing for grade placements, according to the committee recommendation.

Looking ahead

The long-range facility planning committee is one step toward a potential 2025 school bond election.

In November, a bond committee will begin to identify immediate needs in the district. The district’s board of trustees is expected to call for an election in February with the bond election to be held in May 2025.