Comal ISD board of trustees backs away from May 2022 bond election, considers future bond options

After several months of discussion, officials of Comal ISD during a Feb. 15 board workshop postponed a proposed May 2022 bond election after no action was taken during the meeting following to call for the election.

The board of trustees had previously considered calling a May bond to cover items that failed to pass in the November 2021 bond but several board members and district staff voiced concerns that there is not enough time to inform voters about the proposed projects.

In November voters approved three of five propositions that were on the ballot but items that would have provided funding for recreational and stadium facilities throughout the district failed. During the regular Jan. 27 board of trustees meeting, the board evaluated three bond options, all of which included two propositions that would have provided funding to complete improvement projects throughout the district focused on athletic facilities.

“We’re not seeing a district-wide appetite for voters to come out and have this election,” said Steve Stanford, assistant superintendent of communications and organizational alignment for CISD. “We know that no one area can carry the entire election, you have to have support across all 589 square miles in order to get this bond passed.”

Several of the proposed projects would have been used to complete campuses, such as the stadium expansion at Davenport High School, while others were connected to projects passed in previous bonds.

The district is already planning a potential bond in May 2023 to construct new schools to keep up with the rapid growth in the region, Stanford said.

Officials estimate the district has a current bond capacity of $400 million without raising tax rates, Stanford said, a total which likely would be surpassed in 2023 with the inclusion of new schools, athletics projects and more.

District officials have not determined whether the recently proposed projects would be included in a November 2022 bond or included in a May 2023 bond, though district staff recommended waiting until next spring.

"This is an election we cannot afford to fail," Stanford said. "You have to go to a bond election having a reasonable level of confidence that you're going to be successful."