Students returning to school in Tomball and Magnolia ISDs likely noticed some changes throughout their campuses as officials worked over the summer to complete several improvement projects and a new junior high school.
While TISD wraps up projects included on its $160 million 2013 bond referendum, Magnolia has begun a number of new projects with money received in March from a $92 million bond package approved by voters in November.
In the past two years, TISD has opened four new schools, and in the next two years, MISD will open two new schools: Magnolia and Bear Branch intermediate schools.
“It’s been a busy summer,” MISD Superintendent Todd Stephens said. “We appreciate all the work [district staff] did to get us ready for that first day [of school]. We’re not done, but there was a lot we needed done this summer.”
Tomball ISD’s $160 million bond was approved by voters in November 2013.[/caption]
Magnolia ISD’s $92 million bond was approved by voters in November 2015.[/caption]
Campus construction
To accommodate the influx of new students, TISD Director of Communications Staci Stanfield said new schools were a necessary part of the 2013 bond.
“Tomball ISD is a growing school district,” Stanfield said. “In 2013, we anticipated that student growth would increase. New facilities and renovations were necessary at that time to enable us to meet the needs of our students.”
Creekside Park Junior High School opened at the start of this school year in August, a year after the district opened Oakcrest Intermediate School and Creekview and Wildwood elementary schools. The four new schools cost a collective $68.3 million and can accommodate up to 3,000 total students, according to district bond plans. Creekside Park is the last of planned new schools for the district for the time being, Stanfield said.
In Magnolia, MISD Communications Director Denise Meyers said enrollment growth has led to redrawn feeder patterns, expanded facilities and new campus construction. The district will move away from its two aging sixth-grade campuses in favor of the intermediate school model, similar to schools at Tomball.
“In meeting with our facility planning committee, there was a definite need for growth,” Meyers said. “Our elementary [campuses] are getting at capacity so something that our committee looked at was, ‘Do we need more elementary [schools] to accommodate this growth or do we go to a fifth- and sixth-grade campus?’ We had to decide where we need those schools and what is the best model.”
Bear Branch Intermediate School will use the 32-year-old Bear Branch Sixth Grade Campus by doubling the building capacity and adding a new cafeteria, library, band hall and front office while renovating the building exterior, according to the bond proposition. The project is expected to cost $24.5 million.
The $30 million Magnolia Intermediate School campus will be built next to Magnolia Junior High School, Meyers said. The existing 78-year-old Magnolia Sixth Grade campus will be repurposed for district use.
Preliminary construction work has begun on both new schools, which will open in time for the 2018-19 school year, Meyers said. Each new school will be able to accommodate roughly 1,035 students.
Updating facilities
In addition to new schools, both MISD and TISD also earmarked bond funds to make necessary upgrades to existing facilities.
Meyers said the district worked over the summer on maintenance projects at multiple aging elementary campuses, including Magnolia, Ellisor and Lyon. A new gymnasium floor was installed at Ellisor Elementary and work is ongoing to complete a new roof on Magnolia Elementary, MISD Facilities Director Tim Bruner said.
“[At Magnolia Elementary,] they expanded the library, and it’s all glass on the back side,” Meyers said. “It’s a complete transformation because all the natural light is now coming where before it felt a little dark. It’s an older building, so the ceilings are lower. So this makes a huge difference.”
In Tomball, renovation projects were completed last summer at Decker Prairie and Lakewood elementary schools to update the cafeterias and front administration areas.
Financial effects
Because bonds add debt to school districts, they often have to increase property tax rates to pay back the bond money used.
“A school bond is similar to a home mortgage,” Stanfield said. “It is a contract to repay borrowed money with a low-cost interest rate over time.”
However, because of local economic growth, TISD’s tax rate of $1.36 per $100 valuation has remained unchanged for the past several years.
Rises in property value and a decrease in overall debt also allowed MISD to take on its 2015 bond—the district’s first in more than a decade—without having to raise the property tax rate to pay for it, MISD Chief Financial Officer Erich Morris said.
The district’s $1.37 property tax rate per $100 valuation has remained unchanged over the past two years and has steadily decreased since 2007.
“The capacity that we have on our payoff schedules [is higher] due to the fact that we had not attempted to pass a bond since 2004.” Morris said.
The district expects to pay back the bond over 25 years.
“The vast majority of districts across the state of Texas will stretch those [bonds] in many occasions to 30 years or more, so we saved over $10 million in interest” he said.
Tomball and Magnolia ISDs have both experienced steady growth in the past five years.[/caption]
Future growth
TISD ranked third in enrollment growth in Texas among districts with 10,000-20,000 students from 2013-14 to 2014-15 with a 5.9 percent enrollment increase, according to rankings performed by the Population and Survey Analysts demographics firm. MISD ranked 29th out of 54 districts with a 2 percent increase in enrollment.
Both school districts have seen a growth trend over the past five years due in part to new housing developments and population growth in the area.
Meyers said MISD expects to grow to more than 14,000 students by 2020 and to 16,000 students in the next 10 years. TISD also anticipates growth and the district is working to identify where the population is growing, Stanfield said. However, there are no timelines for any additional schools or bond referendums.
“We anticipate that our enrollment will continue to increase,” she said. “Our growth occurs in specific areas, such as in the northern and southern portions of our district, [and] we work with a demographer to help us monitor projected growth. The projections help us provide educational programs and plan for future facilities that meet the needs of our growing population.”
