What’s in Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion bond plan? Here are 5 key takeaways.

As Houston ISD leaders consider asking voters to endorse the largest school bond package in Texas history, the specifics of their plan are beginning to come into focus.

HISD released this week its most detailed information yet on how it could spend $4.4 billion to renovate and rebuild campuses, fix faulty air systems , improve security and more. HISD’s state-appointed board will decide in the coming weeks whether to put a bond on the November ballot.

A successful bond election authorizes school districts to use property tax money to finance investments in campus facilities, technology and other items. HISD has said its $4.4 billion package will not raise the tax rate for bond-related expenses, which stands at about 17 cents per $100 in taxable value, or about $445 per year for the average homeowner. (Property owners pay additional taxes toward HISD operating expenses, such as employee salaries.)

HISD last passed a bond 12 years ago, even though large urban school districts typically ask voters to approve a bond roughly every five years. In recent years, HISD leaders have opted against a bond election amid instability in the district, including the imminent threat of state takeover of the district.

Recent polling suggests voters may be receptive to the current proposal, with about two-thirds of nearly 3,000 HISD residents surveyed by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research saying they would support a bond if it does not raise property taxes by more than $25 per year.

However, some community members also have said they don’t have confidence in Superintendent Mike Miles, who was appointed last year by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, to responsibly spend bond money. At recent community meetings, some attendees have distributed flyers that say “no trust, no bond.”

As the HISD community takes stock of the proposed investments and what they would mean, here are five takeaways from the plans released so far. For details about proposed plans for each campus, search below or click here for more information .

1. Elementary and middle schools to see the biggest upgrades

All schools will see some level of investment under the bond plan, but elementary and middle schools will receive the vast majority of the funds — roughly $3.1 billion of $3.3 billion total slated for campus-level improvements.

HISD’s youngest learners stand to benefit most from the investments because those campuses have gone the longest without receiving facilities upgrades . HISD’s 2012 bond largely targeted high schools, meaning most elementary and middle schools have not received structural fixes since the district’s 2007 bond package.

Two dozen of HISD’s elementary and middle schools were built in the 1930s or earlier, and families interviewed by the Houston Landing in April said some of the campuses are in dire need of fixes. In extreme cases, they said the schools have rats, mold and bathrooms filled with standing water .

2. Over 30 schools to be rebuilt, undergo major renovations

HISD plans to rebuild or renovate about 35 schools in need of the largest improvements, at a total cost of $2.5 billion.

Eighteen schools would be fully rebuilt, while 16 would get renovated or expanded.

Of the 18 schools to get rebuilt, eight would receive investments over $100 million. Those schools are:

• Lanier Middle School ($180 million)
• Black Middle School ($178 million)
• Revere Middle School ($162 million)
• Fleming Middle School ($150 million)
• Holland Middle School ($149 million)
• Hamilton Middle School ($144 million)
• Bonham Elementary School ($121 million)
• McNamara Elementary School ($120 million).

Full details for those and other campuses are available at the Landing’s searchable database of HISD’s stated bond plans.

The roughly 35 campuses slated for rebuilds and renovations collectively use 500 temporary trailer-like structures to educate students. The classrooms, which are located on campus property but outside of the main building, can be hard to heat and cool. HISD has said it hopes to transition many students out of the roughly 1,400 structures districtwide through its bond investments.

3. Some schools to “co-locate” at another campus, but keep staff

Eight schools could relocate and merge onto another campus. Under that arrangement, the joined schools would operate separately and maintain much of their own staffing, though they would share some facilities like cafeterias and gymnasiums, Miles said.

Under the bond plan, six elementary schools would move to existing middle school campuses, while two middle schools would join existing elementary school campuses. Many of the receiving campuses are slated for rebuilds, upgrades and expansions.

The proposed moves include:

• Blackshear Elementary School, moving to Baylor College of Medicine at Ryan Middle School
• Kashmere Gardens Elementary School, moving to Key Middle School
• Sanchez Elementary School, moving to Deady Middle School
• Isaacs Elementary School, moving to Fleming Middle School
• Port Houston and Pleasantville elementary schools, joining Holland Middle School
• Edison Middle School, moving to Franklin Elementary School
• Project Chrysalis Middle School, which is already co-located with Cage Elementary School, moving to a newly built Cage Elementary campus

4. New pre-K classrooms, career and technical education campuses

HISD said it plans to use roughly $1 billion from the bond package to finance investments in pre-kindergarten, new technology and career and technical education, though details on the plans remain scarce.

The district currently has enough pre-K seats for about 14,000 students, equivalent to only one-third of the 3- and 4-year-olds in the district. The bond proposal would allow HISD to open roughly 4,000 new seats, district officials said, accounting for less than one-fifth of the existing gap.

HISD has not said where the new pre-K classrooms would open, but it identified the Wisdom and Lamar high school feeder patterns as the areas with the greatest need.

For career and technical education, HISD said it plans to open four new campuses in addition to the current Barbara Jordan Career Center, which functions as a districtwide hub. Officials have not released exact price tags or locations for the potential new schools, but indicated they would be spread across the district, with one in each quadrant. The new centers would focus on top industries in the Houston area, HISD said, including construction, energy, health and information technology.

5. HISD expects enrollment to continue to decline

District officials expect HISD to continue to bleed students in coming years, losing roughly 10,000 students by 2028-29, according to projections included in the bond plan.

The 269 HISD campuses included plan, which excludes the district’s virtual charter school and several other in-district charter schools, enrolled about 171,000 children this past school year. That total is projected to drop to 161,000 in 2028-29.

HISD has lost students over the past eight years, with districtwide enrollment falling from 216,000 in 2016-17 to roughly 184,000 in 2023-24.

Asher Lehrer-Small covers education for the Landing and would love to hear your tips, questions and story ideas about Houston ISD. Reach him at asher@houstonlanding.org .