Waller ISD (WISD) has formed a 2019 Bond Advisory Committee (BAC) to review district facility, technology, and transportation needs. The committee is made up of 60 community members representing all areas of the district and will begin meeting in February. They will review finances, enrollment, growth projections, current facilities, and more in order to make a recommendation to the WISD Board of Trustees for a future bond election, which is possible as soon as November 2019.
“Our goal with this committee is to work together, as a team, at data and information to create a comprehensive plan for the district’s future infrastructure,” WISD Superintendent Kevin Moran said. “We need a community-based recommendation that best serves the students and families with us now and allows for flexibility to serve future growth. The majority of our campuses are currently at or over capacity. At the same time, we have facilities that are aging and need significant repair or replacement. We need to work through all of this while thinking strategically in order to be fiscally responsible for our students and our taxpayers. The work is going to be tough.”
WISD is currently home to approximately 7,400 students. Enrollment projections done by Population and Survey Analysts (PASA) in Spring 2017 are currently just a few students off of actual enrollment. If the projected trend continues, there will be more than 12,000 in just eight short years. It takes approximately two years to construct and open an elementary or junior high school after the passage of a bond election and longer for a high school.
Thanks to the diligence of WISD Chief Financial Officer Mike Marcus and his staff, the district is very financially sound. The WISD tax rate has remained steady since 2010, even with voter approval of the $71.32 million 2015 bond.
“As a public-school system, we know how important it is to use taxpayer dollars wisely,” Marcus said. “We pay attention to the details and work hard to use our dollars to provide for student needs efficiently and effectively.”
The district has earned a “superior” rating from the Texas Education Agency’s Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) for 15 consecutive years and was awarded the Financial Transparency Star in the area of Traditional Finances by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar in 2018.
All of the 2019 BAC meetings will be held from 6-9 p.m. at H.T. Jones Elementary School on Feb. 7, Feb. 21, March 7, March 21, April 18, May 2, May 16, and May 30. The public is welcome to attend and observe the meetings. BAC meeting information and materials will be posted at www.wallerisd.net. Regular updates will be distributed through WISD’s news outlets. For more information contact Sarah Marcus at smarcus@wallerisd.net or 936.931.0309.
