Pflugerville ISD, Hutto ISD work to modernize, expand schools

Improvements to facilities at Pflugerville and Hutto ISDs are underway as the school districts work to accommodate future growth and provide new opportunities for students.

Major projects include PfISD’s Career and Technical Education Center, which is slated to break ground this fall.

In HISD, work is underway to convert the Ninth Grade Center into the district’s second comprehensive high school. The new school will include an auditorium, competition gym and other athletic improvements for baseball, softball and tennis.

Hutto High School and PfISD’s Connally High School are also both undergoing renovations.

“From a big picture perspective, the district’s always trying to provide equity,” said Dustin Barton, HISD’s assistant superintendent of operations. “We want to ensure that our exterior envelope is good [and] our interior should look good, so we focus on a lot of what we call deferred maintenance projects to ensure there’s equity.”

What’s happening?

New schools, campus renovations and additional facilities for programs such as career and technical education are underway in Pflugerville and Hutto ISDs, as officials work to manage future growth.

More charter schools and the introduction of private school vouchers using public funds are “blurring the lines of public education,” PfISD Superintendent Quintin Shepherd said in an email to Community Impact.

Still, PfISD and HISD are projected to keep growing in student enrollment over the next decade, according to recent demographic reports by Zonda Education.

Many of PfISD’s ongoing facility projects are being funded through the $367.2 million bond from 2022.

On the list is Weiss High School’s weight room expansion, which is slated to be completed this fall, Chief Operations Officer Victor Valdez said. The new space will be a stand-alone building located next to the athletic fields and allow for more flexibility inside.

A three-phase modernization of Connally High School, which is nearly 30 years old and has never had any major renovations, is also utilizing 2022 bond funds, Valdez said.

About 20 acres of donated land within the district, off Wells Branch Parkway and Killingsworth Lane, is also slated to house a bond-funded Career and Technical Education Center with programs for veterinary technicians, firefighters, welding, health sciences and culinary arts, Valdez said.

PfISD’s Learning and Technology Center will open early next year and house the curriculum and instruction, special education, and technology departments, among others. These are currently spread out across the district.

Earlier this year, PfISD’s strategic plan task force—consisting of teachers, parents, students and other community members—developed a list of priorities to help form the vision for the district.

While ongoing facility projects were scheduled prior to finalizing the plan, they hit on several of its tenets, Shepherd said, including ensuring responsible oversight of bond-funded projects.

“These projects have been priorities since voters approved them because they are essential for providing the quality of education our community expects for its students,” Shepherd said. “While much of the work to date has been behind the scenes—securing land, completing engineering and architectural designs, and obtaining permits—we are excited that construction activity will become visible this year.”

The details

Work began this summer to convert HISD’s Ninth Grade Center into the district’s second comprehensive high school, Barton said.

Funded through the $522 million bond from 2023, the school is set to add a new wing to the existing building, which already has a band hall, gym and classroom space. Plans for the campus also include a performing arts center as well as space for career and technical education.

Academic, fine arts and athletic renovations at Hutto High School—which began in 2022 and originally utilized funds from the $194.4 million 2019 bond—are anticipated to be complete by early 2027.

HISD is seeing growth in both the southern and northern parts of the district, Barton said, and is “reaching capacity” at both HHS and the Ninth Grade Center.

“When we looked at the high school, obviously programs change, and we need to invest in our students for career and technology,” Barton said. “That was kind of the interest—that we need to provide innovative, creative spaces that allow these students to really meet the learning expectations or meet our current job market.”

Officials have also considered land for a third high school, which would likely require the passage of a bond, he said, but that project is a “little bit further down the road.”

What they’re saying

HISD is preparing for the innovation coming with the Samsung semiconductor plant located in Taylor, Superintendent Jeni Neatherlin said.

“Our CTE department is growing and accommodating for what’s next. ... We have to make sure that we are staying on top of that and modernizing both our facilities and our equipment to match the needs of what our kids need to know,” Neatherlin said.

What else?

HISD officials look to build an elementary school every two to three years based on current growth rates, Barton said.

HISD’s Lee Martinez Elementary opened for the 2025-26 school year, and funding for the ninth elementary was part of the 2023 bond.

PfISD officials are planning for a future elementary site, which could be built on donated land near the CTE facility on Killingsworth Lane. Locating property for a 2022 bond-funded teacher housing project is also underway, and the district has two sites in mind, Valdez said.

“One site is 8 acres, and another site is 20 acres, so it kind of gives us options to play with designs for the facility itself,” he said.

The timeline for projects at Pflugerville and Hutto ISDs includes:

• September-October 2025: PfISD breaks ground on CTE facility
• October 2025: Weiss High School weight room opens
• December 2025: Hutto High School kitchen renovations complete
• January-February 2026: PfISD Learning & Technology Center opens
• February 2026: HHS competition gym and fine arts lobby complete
• March 2026: PfISD breaks ground on teacher housing project
• March 2026: HHS automotive shop complete
• June-August 2026: First phase of CHS modernization complete
• August 2026: HHS courtyard space completed
• March 2027: HHS CTE renovations complete
• August 2027: PfISD CTE facility opens
• August 2027: Second high school and ninth elementary school opens