Alvin ISD
After Alvin ISD’s $380.1 million bond passed in the November election, officials are holding preliminary meetings before the projects begin in the spring.
Officials said the bond is to manage the district’s projected enrollment growth, which is expected to increase by nearly 6,000 students by 2034, according to a recent demographic report by Zonda Education.
The bond package consists of the following projects:
- Two new elementary schools
- One new junior high school
- One replacement campus to replace Stevenson Primary and Disney Elementary
- Renovations and additions to Alvin and Manvel high schools
- A safety and security package
- Land acquisition
At the board of trustees’ December meeting, the board approved a reimbursement resolution, which allowed the board to authorize district officials to proceed with bond projects with current district funds and use funds from the bond later for reimbursement, according to district documents.
The bond projects will continue to go through mid-2031, officials said.
Along with the bond, district officials and the AISD Education Foundation are undergoing recovery efforts from an EF-2 tornado, which brought winds of 125 miles per hour to the Alvin area and caused substantial damage to Walt Disney Elementary on Dec. 28, documents from the Pearland Chamber of Commerce show.
Multiple supply drives have been held since, including from the AISD Education Foundation and city of Pearland.
Students are currently set to go to a temporary location at the old Alvin Elementary School, at 1910 Rosharon Road, Alvin, beginning Jan. 7, according to a social media post from the school.
Friendswood ISD
Future facility and maintenance needs at Friendswood ISD will be looked at by an upcoming Citizens’ Advisory Committee.
The FISD board of trustees approved creating the committee at its September board meeting, with CAC meetings anticipated to begin in February, FISD’s Executive Director of Communication Kelsey Golz said.
Prior to that, a similar committee was formed in 2019 and resulted in recommendations for a bond to the district’s board, which passed in 2020. The 2020 bond projects recently wrapped up in August.
While it is not guaranteed, officials said the CAC could recommend another bond pending the district’s facility and maintenance evaluations. If a bond is recommended to the board, Superintendent Thad Roher said he anticipates it would potentially appear on the November ballot.
Pearland ISD
Officials at Pearland ISD are continuing bond projects after the $105 million bond passed in May.
The bond was called to upgrade infrastructure and technology needs, officials said.
At the board’s November meeting, the board of trustees approved over $5.1 million for bond projects that consisted of chiller replacements, upgrading building management control systems and re-roofing projects, among other projects, according to district documents.
However, the board of trustees declined a purchase for mini split systems, which are mini cooling and heating systems, for bathrooms at the Pearland ISD Stadium, which would cost $333,500. Some trustees noted that the price was over the projected budget of $227,000, according to bond documents.
Despite this item being overbudget, Superintendent Larry Berger noted at the meeting that every other project has been under the bond’s projected costs.
School board elections
Both AISD and PISD will have school board elections in May.
The filing period for elections in both districts is Jan. 15 through Feb. 14.
For AISD, positions 4 and 5, which are currently held by Regan Peterson and David Selsky, respectively, are up for election in May.
AISD’s May 2024 election entailed a victory for three incumbents, including Albert “AJ” Johnson, Cory Scott and Gabriel “Gabe” Garza, as well as new trustee Danielle Swiney. While Garza’s term will end in 2026, all other recently elected trustees’ terms will end in 2027, according to district documents.
For PISD, positions 5, 6 and 7, which are currently held by Amanda Kuhn, Jenny Francis and Nanette Weimer, respectively, are up for election in May.
Francis was recently elected to PISD’s school board in the May 2024 election for an unexpired term.
All positions for AISD and PISD are three-year terms, according to both district’s websites.
Although FISD will not have any board elections in 2025, positions 5, 6 and 7, which are currently held by Beau Egert, Ralph Hobratschk and David Montz, respectively, will be up for election in November 2026, according to district documents.
FISD’s most recent election in November welcomed back all four incumbents, including Laura Seifert, Niki Rhodes, Rebecca Hillenburg and Tony Hopkins. All four of those positions will expire in 2028.
Legislative priorities
Ahead of the legislative session, which runs from Jan. 14 to June 2, district officials in AISD, FISD and PISD have listed priorities they want legislators to consider.
The key priorities for all three districts include the following:
- Raising school safety funding
- Revising state code to remove barriers for correcting disruptive students and encourage policies that support parent involvement
- Increased salaries for teachers and district staff
- Raising special education funding
At the event, legislators said they were hesitant about meeting some of the school districts’ needs.
While the state will have a $20 billion surplus going into the legislative session, legislators noted that allotting funds to a number of different areas may be difficult for this upcoming legislative session.
Over 2,400 bills have been filed within the state ahead of the legislative session.
