The latest phases of two building projects included in Spring ISD's $330 million 2016 bond referendum package advanced at the Sept. 11 board of trustees meeting.

Trustees unanimously approved a $6.7 million package for ongoing construction costs at Middle School No. 8. The $50 million school, located off I-45 North neat Northgate Crossing Elementary School, will accommodate 725 students.

SISD Superintendent Rodney Watson said the district will direct its attention to improving its middle schools in the near future.

“Next week I’ll be starting a listening tour focused on middle schools, an area we need to focus on,” Watson said at the meeting.

Watson said data shows that some families are opting out of the district at the middle school level. Six upcoming meetings will be announced for the district to gather input from families on how to strengthen its middle school offerings, he said.

"We have a lot of opportunity in our middle school programs, but especially as we think about how we are going to be transitioning our students to the new ninth-grade centers set to open in August 2020," Watson said.

The board also authorized contract negotiations with Brookstone Construction for work on the ninth-grade center planned for the district’s Spring High School campus.

Ninth-grade centers will be constructed at each of the district's three high schools—Dekaney, Spring and Westfield—to help reduce overcrowding and transition students from middle to high school, SISD officials have said. Some attendance boundaries in the district will shift as a result of new campuses and efforts to reduce overcrowding.

In other business, the board accepted a donation of more than $12,000 from Spring ISD Education Foundation, a fundraising organization that benefits school programs.

It also recognized the Spring ISD Procurement Department with a Points of Pride award, a district recognition for state or national awards within the district. The procurement department won the Annual Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award by the National Procurement Institute for the ninth year in a row.