SMCISD Steering Committee To Determine Bond Election

San Marcos Independent Consolidated School District held a facility planning meeting last night to address student enrollment growth.

In a press release on Monday, SMCISD officials stated “student enrollment and projected student growth is resulting in overcrowded facilities.” The school district announced the creation of a Facility Planning Steering Committee Monday who will develop an improvement plan.

The “steering committee” is comprised of former and current district employees and individuals in the development and real estate industries and has been formed to develop and approve a plan for the district. One of the committee’s decisions will determine if the district needs a bond and what the money would be spent on.

SMCISD has enlisted the help of an architecture and design firm, Perkins+Will, to help develop the plan. The firm has toured SMCISD campuses and met with school principals to discuss what administration felt schools needed. Yesterday, Perkins+Will’s findings were presented to the committee members in a PowerPoint.

In a brief overview of their findings, Angela Whitaker-Williams, director at Perkins+Will, said throughout the district technology, hardware and infrastructure were brought up as three major concerns and needs principals saw in their schools.

Last night’s facility planning meeting was the first of many that will be held in the coming weeks. The committee meetings will be open to public and citizen comments and concerns.

District officials said they hope to have the plan completed in January 2017. Currently, the district proposes a $75 million bond to go to voters in the first half of 2017 and suggests that another bond could be proposed in five years if needed.