The San Marcos CISD board of trustees will interview and rank architecture firms for a potential May 2017 bond at the board’s July 25 meeting at 6 p.m. at the Central Administration Building, 501 S. LBJ Drive, San Marcos.

The district is dealing with overcrowding at elementary campuses throughout the district.

“We’re having conversations with board members and community members to see about a potential bond in May 2017,” Cardona said.

Cardona, who previously worked in Houston ISD, said when that district constructed new campuses they would generally build the new schools so they would be at 80 percent capacity when they opened to students. San Marcos CISD’s elementary campuses are generally hovering near 95 percent capacity, Cardona said.

Anticipated enrollment growth from new residential communities, such as Cotton Center near the San Marcos Regional Airport and La Cima off Ranch Road 12, mean the district needs to get ahead of the growth, Cardona said.

The district is funded in part based on the average daily attendance at its 12 campuses. The other portion of revenue comes from the number of students enrolled at the district, but growing enrollment is becoming more difficult as campuses near capacity, Assistant Superintendent Karen Griffith said.

“The only way we can improve our revenue is to improve our daily attendance or grow our district,” Griffith said. “Right now growing our district is not an option because we’re running out of space.”

If a bond were to be approved by voters in May, Cardona said it would probably be two or three years before the campuses were built and ready to accept students.

The board will interview three architecture firms in open session at the meeting.

Voters last approved a district bond in fall 2013. That bond funded construction of a new pre-kindergarten campus, football stadium, student activity center, elementary and middle school campus renovations, support services facility additions, and a new campus for the district's Phoenix campus.