Comal ISD board of trustees receives update on 2023 bond discussions

The Comal ISD board of trustees met Oct. 20 to discuss several items on the agenda, including receiving an update on the Comal Forward Committee, which oversees funding selections for the May 2023 bond package.

The Comal Forward committee has met several times to discuss school finance, demographics, school attendance boundaries and school construction among other topics that may be included in the May 2023 bond. The funding items they are discussing are preliminary and have not yet been proposed to the Comal ISD school board.

The committee is considering purchasing 40 buses on the 2023 bond due to the district's growth and aging of existing vehicles. Technology improvements discussed to be on the bond include outdoor Wi-Fi enhancements, new devices to replace aging ones and classroom AV equipment.

The district anticipates having 13,400 students over the next 10 years. At a minimum, $28 million is projected to be required for a new elementary school, middle school and high school. Improvements to maintain current campuses will also be included in the bond election, according to CISD Assistant Superintendent Steve Stanford.

In future meetings, the Comal Forward committee will discuss renovations and additions to campus and athletic facilities, safety and security, stadiums, replacement facilities and package development.

“We're going to continue to feed you detailed information over the coming weeks and months so that you are well educated on all the things that we're going to be choosing,” Stanford said.

CISD board member Courtney Biasatti is on the committee and said the group has been having great discussions so far. Biasatti said that the district needs to look at ways to improve community outreach and increase the number of people who are encouraged to vote in the bond election.

“I think everyone's aware that we need to have a bond; we've just seen multiple presentations to prove that,” Biasatti said. “The only thing that I will charge [the Comal Forward Committee] with, I would say that the vibe, would be, we need to do something different if we push this bond forward to get it out to the community.”