$263 million bond passes

Funds will build new high schools to address growth

The 2017 bond passes after the election May 6. The bond will add two new high schools to the district.

Comal ISD http://www.comalisd.org/pages/Comal_ISD/Bond2017

The 2017 bond passes after the election May 6. The bond will add two new high schools to the district.

Emma Sipple, Web Editor

The 2017 bond of $263 million passed with 5,595 for votes to 1,573 votes against on May 6. Two new high school will be built and one new elementary school will be designed with the bond.

The bond also includes money for an overhaul of the air conditioning and heating systems in schools across the district, new buses and new land for the new schools.

“I want to thank you to you all for the support of the Bond 2017,” Superintendent Andrew Kim said in a staff email. “We are very blessed and humbled by the support that we received.”

The recent growth in the district prompted a new bond to be drafted to compensate for the growth.

“The district is currently utilizing 99 percent of its functional of its total high school capacity district wide,” according to the 2017 bond page on the district’s website.

“Both CHS and SVHS have exceeded their classroom capacity with portable classrooms being used for the foreseeable future.”

The bond also does not include tax increases.

“It is anticipated that the combination of new development and increasing valuation on existing properties are forecasted to generate sufficient tax revenue to retire the debt utilizing the district’s current Interest & Sinking levy of $.35 per $100 in property value,” the bond page reads.

The new bond starts the next step in managing the growth of the district.

“Success cannot happen as a result of random acts of work but rather due to intentional decisions towards improvements.” Kim said. “I believe we are in pursuit of this standard performance.”