Katy ISD hosted the first of 14 scheduled meetings of its 200-person school bond committee April 3 at the district's Education Support Complex. The meetings are an effort to enlist input from the citizen committee, meant to represent the diverse interests in the district, on a potential bond election in November 2014.

"It was a great turnout," Katy ISD spokeswoman Denisse Cantu said. "There were over 200 people in attendance, including some observers."

The "core committee" of 100 residents and 100 alternates was selected in March from more than 600 applications. The citizen committee members were chosen by a group of board members and district administrators.

District organizers tried to select a group that represented a wide swath of the community, including people who live in Katy but have no children, retirees, a variety of parents with students in the district, business owners, and a diverse group of other stakeholders.

Committee members were divvied up Thursday night into groups and presented with information about growth in the district, previous bonds, the bond process and tax rates.

"Yesterday was kind of laying the ground work," Cantu said.

The group's organizers expect to start having conversations at the next meeting, April 16, about how much money the district might need to raise to prepare for future growth. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Rm. 1200 of the Education Support Complex.

The committee is expected to deliver a recommendation to the school board July 21 about whether the district needs to call a bond election, how much money to ask for, and what projects might be included.

The public may attend the meetings to listen and observe.