Katy Board Approves New Bond Committee to Establish a November 2023 Bond Package

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

January 24, 2023

By Natalie Cook Clark

Katy ISD Trustees has approved the formation of a Community Bond Advisory Committee to review enrollment projects and explore current and future needs. The committee will help make a determination on a November 2023 bond package that the District will need to continue serving the community at its standard.

Photo credit: Katy ISD

Katy ISD to Form Bond Committee

At last nights Katy ISD Board meeting the Trustees approved the formation of a Community Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC.) The Katy area continues to grow rapidly increasing District needs along with it. The committee will help make a determination on a November 2023 bond package that will help maintain current schools and build new ones.

“Our community has established a three-year bond cycle to build new schools, renovate older campuses and provide for safety and technology upgrades when needed,” says Greg Schulte, Katy ISD Board President. “Our last schools bond, which was delayed due to COVID, was in 2021.”

The Katy area continues to grow with businesses and residential developments. The District is currently building four new schools all set to open in the next three years to accommodate the projected growth.

District demographers project Katy ISD will serve more than 100,000 students in just four years from now and will continue to add an average of 1,400 new students annually until at least 2032. The majority of this growth will take place in the northwest quadrant.

Coming Fall 2023

Master planned communities like Cane Island continue to develop in Katy, especially in the northwest quadrant of Katy ISD boundary lines. The fall of 2023 academic year will see the opening of two new elementary schools (#45 and #46.) Both will relieve areas that continue to see much residential growth.

Elementary #45 (approved last night to be named David and Terri Youngblood Elementary) will be located at 25600 Longenbaugh Road. This school will answer to the immense growth due to the Elyson community. It will relieve crowding at Peter McElwain Elementary. A new junior high and high school will soon be next door to this elementary.

Elementary #46 (approved last night to be named Russell and Cindie Faldyn Elementary) will be located at 25615 Clay Road near the District’s newest junior high, Haskett Junior High. This school will relieve neighboring schools of crowding around King Crossing, Camillo Lakes, and more neighborhoods along Katy Hockley Road and Clay Road.

Coming Fall 2024

The 2024 academic year will welcome two new secondary schools to the fastest growing public-school district in Texas.

Junior High #18 and High School #10 will welcome students Fall of 2024.

All of these current projects were approved in the 2021 bond.

Community Members can Apply to Serve on Committee

“With the continued fast growth in our northwest quadrant, our Board believes it is important to move forward with the formation of a CBAC this spring to get ahead of the population boom that will inevitably impact our classrooms and learning,” says Schulte.

An application to serve on the Katy ISD CBAC will be available from February 1 -15 via the email address community members have on file with the District. The committee's first meeting will be held in March.

The committee looks at District needs other than new schools. The bond committee will review and identify capital, technology and safety needs across the District.

The CBAC will consist of approximately 150 members that include parents, business owners, senior citizens, students, partner institutions, professional and civic organizations, and other community members. More information can be found on the Katy ISD Community Bond Advisory Committee page.

This past year, Katy ISD was ranked the number one school district in the Houston area by Niche, for the second consecutive year. The District also holds an “A” rating from the Texas Education Agency, earned the College Board’s Annual AP District Honor Roll recognition, and was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), among other accolades.