Early voting begins Monday for the May 6 Comal ISD bond issue that could provide a stand alone dance studio, athletic facility upgrades and an interior facelift for classrooms, restrooms and cafeteria on this campus.

This election comes two years after similar bond proposals failed to get voter support. District officials maintain this bond issue will not result in a tax rate increase for taxpayers.

Proposition A, for $560,564,863, would fund three new elementary schools, a new middle school safety and security upgrades at multiple campuses, buses and land and expansions around the district.

It also would provide for a stand-alone dance studio at Smithson Valley. The current space is not large enough for the Silver Spurs to rehearse their competition shows, so the dance teams share the junior varsity gym with other sports and physical education classes.

The new dance studio would not only serve the Silver Spurs and Silverados but the students who sign up for dance as a physical education credit. According to superintendent John Chapman, ROTC will take over the space currently used by dance and cheer.

A golf practice facility, if approved, would include hitting nets, putting and chipping areas with space for high school and middle school students to practice.

“Local golf ranges and clubs are no longer allowing students to practice at their facilities without paying membership dues,” Chapman wrote in an email to parents on Wednesday.

The golf program is sending sophomore Sayers Allen and the boys team to state this year.

The state semifinalist girls soccer team currently shares locker space with aquatics, wrestlers, cross country runners and tennis players. Soccer would get new locker space to share with wrestling if Proposition A passes.

In addition, those wrestlers – which have included a state champion and a host of state qualifiers – will get new space to practice.

“The current wrestling mat room is a converted CTE classroom and is not the proper size or configuration for wrestling,” Chapman wrote in his email. “This project will provide a properly-sized and configured mat room as well as a shared locker room space for the soccer and wrestling programs.”

On the other side of the campus, the baseball facilities will be brought up to district standards for dugouts.

“(It) will also replace the aging concession area and the termite-damaged press box,” the superintendent wrote.

Proposition A also calls for security upgrades, including:

• Access Control: CLHS, STZES
• Fencing: DHS, PHS, PRMS, STZES
• Public address system refresh: Multiple locations
• Outdoor cameras: Multiple locations
• Door hardware replacement (Non-Classroom): Multiple locations
• Emergency Operations Center.
• Video intercoms at the main entry and food service.
• Video surveillance system.
• Active threat notification system.
• Intrusion detection upgrades.

“All of this stuff should have been done a long time ago,” deputy Dan Valenzuela said. “The outdoor cameras would be a great help in the (orange) parking lot, and the further one over on the top of senior hill doesn’t reach out there because the further it goes, it gets more blurry.”

District leaders strive to maintain consistent facilities across its campuses.

“If we could get some of the ones they have at Canyon where you can actually read license plates and actually zoom in on pictures of who’s doing whatever, that would really help out a lot,” Valenzuela said.

Proposition B, worth $46,094,984, would address safety concerns at the Canyon Lake stadium (only one entrance/exit) and expansion of  bleachers and field house at Davenport High School (where population growth exceeded expectations).

Proposition C will cost around $28 million and focuses on enhancing internet and other technological aspects of the school, such as:

• Student Learning Devices
• Outdoor Wi-Fi
• Wide Area Network
• Growth Devices
• Classroom Audiovisual Upgrades