Background:
In September of 2022, CSISD and VLK Architects began a process to produce a long-range facilities plan to review and prioritize the district’s facility needs and consider future bond referendums.
VLK gathered feedback from district and campus administration and comprehensively reviewed existing facilities. This resulted in the development of several documents:
- Curation Report - Curation studies the district philosophy in order to adequately approach the collaborative Long Range Facility Planning process.
- Programming and Capacity Analysis - This report looks at preferred adjacencies, number and sizes of spaces and how the spaces support the educational program. The report also includes a building capacity analysis.
- Facilities Condition Assessment - VLK performed assessments of instructional campuses, administrative buildings, maintenance warehouse and transportation facilities. The assessments include review of as-built drawings, site visits, reviewing district standards for new construction, surveys of campus principals and program directors, and incorporating current building codes and accessibility requirements.
- High School Athletic Facility Comparison - This report includes comparisons of fieldhouses, locker rooms, showers, and shared spaces.
- Educational Adequacy Index - This assessment reviews how well a school supports the teaching and learning goals of the district. The form includes over 100 data points which involves a physical walk-through of every space. A combination of TEA Standards, Education Specifications and the district's educational mission serve as the base for comparison. Sample items include: Are the rooms the correct size? Are corridors wide enough for efficient traffic flow? Do classrooms have natural light? Is the furniture flexible?
In March of 2023, the CSISD Board of Trustees chartered an ad hoc Long Range Facilities and Bond Planning Committee.
Using the reports from VLK and facilitated by Dr. Lizzy Johnson, the 48-member committee met six times to develop consensus on what projects should be included in the 2023 bond package.
On May 16, 2023, committee members presented their recommendations to the school board, who discussed the proposed projects in open meetings on May 16, June 20, July 18, and August 15, before officially calling for the bond package to be placed on the November 2023 ballot.
Propositions A and B from the 2023 Bond were passed by College Station voters, marking the largest bond in the school district's history. Propositions C and D did not pass.
During the December 2023 CSISD Board of Trustees regularly scheduled meeting, the board approved a resolution amending the original ad hoc Long Range Facilities and Bond Planning Committee charter to allow the superintendent to add alternate members to the committee and for the committee to reconvene to review the results of the November 7, 2023 election and recommendations to the board on how the district should move forward with the two unsuccessful propositions.
Using the reports from VLK and facilitated by Dr. Lizzy Johnson, the now 30-member committee met twice to develop consensus on how the district should move forward.
On Feb. 7, 2024 the committee presented their recommendations to the school board, who discussed the proposed projects in the open meeting before unanimously approving the recommendation to call a bond election for May, 4 2024.
A complete timeline of the district's work leading up to presenting this bond package to the community can be found here.