The Conroe ISD board of trustees unanimously approved calling a school bond election during a special meeting Aug. 1. Harry Vein and Chane Reagan, co-spokespersons for the 148-member Bond Planning Committee, presented the final $1.9 billion bond package, which consists of four separate propositions.

Proposition A: $1.8 billion
  • Build eight new schools, including one Conroe-area high school and three district elementary schools.
  • Add classroom space to three campuses.
  • Make major renovations to five campuses.
  • Restructure two schools.
  • Include needed infrastructure, safety, land, transportation and technology infrastructure for growth.
Proposition B: $40 million
  • Add more technology devices to classrooms for instructional purposes.
Proposition C: $112.87 million
  • Add physical education classrooms/elementary gyms to all 16 campus that do not have them.
  • Add a new Ag Barn to serve Conroe, Caney Creek and new Conroe-area high schools.
  • Include additions for current Budde and Otwell barns.
Proposition D: $22.9 million
  • Build a 50-meter outdoor pool next to the current natatorium.
  • Expand and upgrade the current natatorium.
Quote of note

"What a journey this has already been," CISD Superintendent Curtis Null said. "Last year as we began to see empty seats at our schools become full, and [we saw] that we were over 100% capacity districtwide ... we initiated our demographic study to see if this was a one-time occurrence or if this was a new trend for us. We learned that it was certainly a new trend. With [board] guidance, we created a Bond Planning Committee to go to work to look at the needs of the district."

Sorting out details

During a June 6 board meeting, Null gave a preliminary bond package update with items that did not make the final package. Options that were cut include:
  • Proposition E, which involved converting natural turf to artificial turf for baseball and softball fields at all high school campuses, was cut.
  • The $17 million option was removed in order to keep the bond package under $2 billion.
  • BPC also selected one option for the pool and PE gyms, eliminating the second options.
  • The second pool option included a 25-yard indoor practice pool at new Conroe-area high school for $19 million.
  • The elementary gym option was for eight gyms totaling $47.9 million.
Managing the impact


After the bond presentation, Darrin Rice, CISD's chief financial officer, shared with the public the impact the passing of the bond could have on the tax rate.
  • 2-cent tax rate increase
  • This is equal to $4.17 a month on an average district home value of $350,000.
  • Average taxable value for tax year 2022 was $308,000
What's next

The bond will be placed on the November ballot. Voters can choose to pass some propositions while voting down others.

Editor's note: This story was updated to include a spelling correction for a name.