BOND BACKGROUND

On February 13, 2018, the Killeen ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to call for a $426 million bond election, following recommendations made by the KISD Bond Steering Committee.

A bond is similar to a home mortgage. It is a contract to repay borrowed money with interest over time. Bond elections allow communities to vote to give the Board of Trustees authority to sell bonds to pay for items such as new school construction, renovations, capital projects, and land acquisition.

KISD’s last bond election was in 2002. Since that time, the district has grown by an additional 13,711 students. In efforts to keep pace with this growth and address other facility needs, KISD has completed over $232 million in construction out of its general fund since the exhaustion of the 2002 bond funds. In addition, the district has had to rely heavily on portable classroom buildings. KISD currently utilizes 290 portable classrooms districtwide to accommodate overcapacity.

Continued growth, coupled with aging district facilities and annual construction inflation, impelled the Board to begin exploring the development of a potential bond proposal.

This process involved information gathering, research and community input. KISD completed a district-wide facilities assessment which examined current campus conditions. Student enrollment, an ongoing item of study by the district, was examined closely in relation to district capacity, campus utilization, growth trends and future projections. The district consulted with experts in public school finance, law, design and construction. The district engaged the community first in a strategic planning process to set the vision for academic programming, then in a citizens’ steering committee process to guide future decision-making regarding a future potential bond.

In the fall of 2017, the KISD Bond Steering Committee was formed. The Bond Steering Committee, comprised of a diverse cross-section of KISD residents and taxpayers, met to study and prioritize the growth and facility needs of the district. The committee made its recommendation to the Board of Trustees on December 12, 2017 to call for a bond election to address student enrollment growth, safety and security, campus equity, aging conditions and inefficiencies.