Willis ISD Crews will be able to move forward with construction of its sixth elementary school campus and renovations at existing Willis ISD facilities now that voters have approved the district’s $109.5 million school bond referendum during the Nov. 3 election.

School bond funds will be used to start construction of a new elementary school campus at the southeast corner of M.P. Clark and League Line roads  in spring 2017 to reduce strain on existing campuses from population growth, Superintendent Tim Harkrider said.

The district will also use bond money to pay for enhancement projects at Willis High School and Brabham Middle School, new turf at Berton A. Yates Stadium, pickup and drop-off lane improvements at several of its campuses and to purchase land for future schools.

District officials are finalizing timelines for each planned project. Superintendent Tim Harkrider said the district will start pickup and drop-off lane improvement contruction at Brabham Middle School and Turner, Meador and Cannan elementary schools to have them ready for the start of the 2016-17 school year.

Harkrider said construction of a 250-student capacity expansion at Brabham Middle School could start as early as summer 2016 and the district hopes to have the project completed by August 2017.

“For our Brabham Middle School addition, we would like to move in there in August 2017,” Harkrider said. “Right now Brabham [Middle School] is sitting at its capacity with a little over 850 students so that addition is going to be needed soon.”

Additionally, planned improvements at Willis High School—which will include construction of a 500-student capacity Career and Technology Center, a 1,000-seat auditorium and an agricultural center—could break ground as early as fall 2016.