Conroe ISD is gearing up for its first bond election since 2008, planned for November 2015.

"We've been very fortunate because we have not had to have a bond issue since 2008, so it will have been seven years since the last bond issue," Superintendent Don Stockton said. "And during that seven years, we've probably grown [by] over 10,000 students. So we've had a lot of growth."

The amount of the bond proposal has not been determined, but Stockton said it would likely be less than the previously approved bond.

"In 2008, the bond issue was $527 million," Stockton said. "We anticipate this being smaller than that amount."

Stockton said it is too soon to pinpoint an exact amount, however.

"We're certainly going to try to make it as small as possible yet still meet the needs of our growing population," he said.

The tax rate is lower than the board anticipated it would be after the 2008 bond issue by about 14 cents, Stockton said. Overall, the board tries to keep the terms of the bond closer to around 20 years in an attempt to save on the cost of interest, he added.

The bond issue will likely be centered on providing the school district with the money to build a new high school in the Oak Ridge feeder zone and might include the money to build a few more schools.

Stockton said he believes the bond will find community support because of the attempts the school district makes to be fiscally responsible.

"The state has recognized us for financial efficiency for several years, so we're proud of that," Stockton said.

Before the bond issue makes its way to voters next year, it will need to be approved by the school board, which will get its recommendations for the details from a committee of community members. The bond review committee is open for members of the public to apply. The final committee will be selected by the board of directors.

The bond review process usually begins about a year before the vote, Stockton said. He anticipates that the committee will start meeting at the beginning of 2015.

Stockton said the committee would provide the board with a financial forecast projecting the economic ramifications of the bond issue.

Because the bond issue has the potential of raising property taxes within the district, community members will have to either accept the bond issue or reject it.

Paul Cote, the president of the Rayford Road Civic Association, said the bond issue will probably be necessary to help keep up with the area's growth. He drew a parallel between needing to get a mortgage to pay for a home and having to use a bond issue to pay for a new high school.

"It's not like the school district is holding a pile of cash to go out and pay cash for [a new school], and it is going to be needed," Cote said.

He said he believes having community members involved in the process of establishing the bond issue would help it be more successful.

School district officials want to balance providing for the needs of the community along with keeping the costs for the community down.

"We want to be good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars and still meet the needs of our community and our students, so we will be very careful as we look at this process and I'm very confident we'll come up with a plan that will meet those needs," Stockton said.