Katy ISD held its first bond advisory committee meeting April 4 to begin the process of deciding what to include in the district’s next bond package. The meeting is the first of approximately 12 planned for the 150-member committee.

Meeting attendees were shown presentations by KISD Superintendent Lance Hindt regarding the history of Katy ISD bond referendums, as well as given a crash-course on public school finance by chief financial officer Chris Smith.

Michelle Hughes, President of TM Strategy & Design Group, will serve as facilitator for the committee. Hughes also served as facilitator for the 2014 bond committee responsible for developing the controversial $748 million bond package resulting in the construction of six new schools as well as the new Legacy Stadium.

Additionally, Keith Carmichael, will act as committee chair for the group.

Katy ISD previously held four education summits in March to collect feedback from the community on what to include in the district’s next strategic design plan.

The summits were hosted as a joint venture between the KISD Board of Trustees and engage2learn, a Texas-based education company that specializes in strategic design and planning. The business has worked with over 175 school districts to help create a “high performance culture,” according to company presenters Mitzi Clark-Richardson and Karen Permetti.

Strategic design is an organizational method of future-oriented principles in order to ensure that community members and district staff are working towards the same goals. The plan will serve as the guiding force for district improvements in the next five years, engage2learn employees said.

Prior to the summits, trustees and engage2learn also met with stakeholder groups to hear their feedback as well. These groups consisted of various sections of the community including faith leaders and business owners.

Nearly 300 people participated in the four community-wide summits, according to district officials. The events were the first of many steps the district will take to formulate the plans.

The bond advisory committee will present their plan package at the June board of trustees meeting.