"What exciting work to be able to jump right into a facilities study with wonderful community members and administration and others tonight to plan the future of our district," TISD Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said.
This week marks her first as superintendent following the retirement of Huey Kinchen in March.
The district is expected to reach 15,000 students by fall of this year and more than 20,000 in the next 10 years, said Chief Administrative Officer Chris Trotter. The district has identified the need for a new elementary school on the south side of the district, a new junior high school and an expansion for Tomball Memorial High School within the next three years. A second new elementary school may be necessary to reduce overcrowding in the next five years, especially with expected commercial and residential development near the Grand Parkway, Trotter said.
"Our projections show that we'll continue [to grow] at a percentage rate of about 6 percent [per year]," he said.
In February, the TISD board of trustees approved a facility study to determine the needs of the community and the district. In March, the district assembled a steering committee made up of residents and staff to help determine what a potential bond passage would look like. Rob Hauck, Tomball Assistant City Manager and chair of the steering committee, facilitated the meeting.
"The board of trustees did realize that we have facility needs, so they directed a steering committee be established and that this steering committee help guide these community meetings," Hauck said. "In the end, we're not going to make the final decisions, but it’s our responsibility to give them good input, good information and good recommendations so they can make the best decisions for our future for teachers, staff, students and parents."
Suggestions from the group ranged from new schools to renovations for older ones, however there were a number of overlapping suggestions from attendees, such as adding security cameras at all campuses, purchasing additional school buses, updating the football stadium and building a new natatorium with a swimming pool near TMHS.
“It’s just unkind that those students have to do pre-dawn travel to an area of the county that is bisected with Hwy. 249 and 99,” said Paula Gay Luebsen, parent and Wildwood Elementary School PTO member.
Although Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross previously stated the district has the bond capacity to take on $275 million in debt without raising the tax rate, participants in the meeting were not given a dollar amount to which to adhere.
Additional meetings open to the community will be held on April 20 and 27, and bond package suggestions are expected to be given to the board in early May. Community members and parents will also be able to submit comments and suggestions online at www.tomballisd.net.
The deadline to call for a bond election for the November ballot is Aug. 21.
