One committee member noticed the windows—or lack thereof. There were only a handful of windows that channeled outside light into the buildings. Another member, who has managed school construction projects, suggested that more exterior walls and windows are expensive.

Both were on a tour of four Katy ISD campuses April 30 along with others on the district's school bond citizen committee.

About 100 people, including some staff and administrators, loaded up onto yellow buses to see Memorial Parkway Elementary, Memorial Parkway Junior High, Mayde Creek Junior High and Mayde Creek High School. The district followed the April 30 tours with a tour of WoodCreek Junior High and King Elementary May 9.

The committee has been charged with the responsibility of offering a recommendation to the school board July 21. Committee members discussed observations from the tours at a fifth meeting on May 8 and heard presentations on transportation, technology and campus safety from Katy ISD principals.

The committee began considering cost estimates for the needs identified by the district. So far those estimates are divided into broad categories, including student activity facilities, renovations and replacements, technology, safety and security and transportation.

In previous meetings, the committee was given a classroom-style education on the way school bonds work, a numerical explanation of the rising populations that, the district argues, will soon outstrip the capacity of its facilities. In some cases it already has, as evidenced by portable buildings and larger than ideal class sizes, administrators have argued.