The RISD Bond Steering Committee met again on April 14 to continue learning about RISD’s capital projects and equipment needs, eventually leading up to recommendations to the RISD Board of Trustees about a possible bond election in November of 2025.
At the April 14 meeting, committee members heard from all of the RISD departments that utilize bond funds, and with some exceptions, each projected what needs would be necessary for the next five years to maintain the current level of services.
As a reminder, under Texas law, bonds can be used to finance construction, renovation and equipment purchases of items with a useful life of more than one year.
See the April 14 presentation here, including a recap of 2021 bond expenditures by department/program and requests for a 2025 bond.
Two major “new” items are being discussed for a 2025 bond package that would go beyond existing level of services for students and staff:
- Major renovation/rebuild of RISD’s six remaining junior highs to complete the district conversion to a middle school model. (See background on RISD’s middle school transition, which began in 2020, with Forest Meadow MS and Lake Highlands MS opening this school year).
- Construction of a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center that would centralize and consolidate many CTE programs that currently exist only in individual high schools, making more programs accessible to more RISD students.
Part of the committee’s charge is to review the requested items and determine what is consistent with available resources under the debt service portion of the RISD tax rate. At the next meeting, committee members will learn more about RISD’s bond capacity under the current debt service tax rate, and what impact a called bond may have on RISD’s property tax rate.
The committee hopes to arrive at recommendations for RISD Trustees to consider in May.
