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Area school districts building for future
Courtesy photo Academy High School student Alyssa Polnac poses for a photo with Rep. John Carter. Her piece titled “Impact” took first place in the paintings category of the 2021 Congressional Art Competition.
Academy, Rogers, Troy projects underway or in planning stages
BY JOEL VALLEY
TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
In Bell County, the Academy Independent School District is leading a pack of smaller local districts in growth, and is aiming to open a new high school campus in 2023 — a facility that will be funded by the $79 million bond issue voters approved in the May 1 election.
Academy ISD Superintendent Billy Harlan called the upcoming project, which is being designed by Claycomb Associates, monumental.
“We are so thankful to the Academy ISD school community for the support for the construction project … 68% approval is phenomenal,” he wrote in his monthly newsletter. “The processes are already underway as surveyors, geotech engineers and architects begin to work on concepts for us to consider.”
Templeton Demographics has Academy ISD — a school district with about 1,750 students — pegged to reach nearly 2,300 students for the 2024-25 school year as homebuilding in the city of Temple that is part of that district extends south. This projection report was completed for the district in the fall of 2019.
“There’s a tremendous amount of property being purchased and annexed into our district ... that developers plan to build quite a few homes on,” Harlan said. “On the far northwest side of our district, there’s already a planned development that’s underway. The streets have already been cut in and we’re expecting to see some new homes this summer and fall. That’s what we’re trying to plan for.”
But the Academy ISD superintendent said the new high school, which will be built on the 80acre property just north of its existing high school site that Academy ISD purchased last year, will accomplish just that.
“We’re going to spend about $45 million in phase one and that will get our students into the high school,” Harlan told the Telegram following a recent meeting with architects. “So you may not see all of the classrooms completed when it first opens … but as our growth starts happening, we will be able to work into phase two and phase three.”
Although Academy ISD expects the project to reach $60 million, Harlan said the benefits of a new high school will not be limited to its campus grounds.
“Building a new high school relieves the pressure at the campuses below,” he said. “As a district we can decide, based on enrollment, how many middle school students will go into the existing high school … and that just works its way down to the elementary school level.” Rogers ISD
Meanwhile in Rogers ISD, voters approved only Proposition A in the district’s $6.1 million fourpart bond issue during the May 1 election.
Nan Dickson/Telegram file Hartley Jo Clayton, 9, of Rogers gives some affection to Haggard, a Palomino, before they compete in September during the Cavender’s Junior Classic as part of the Bell County Classic Barrel Race at the Bell County Expo Center Equine/Livestock Complex in Belton.
However, Rogers ISD Superintendent Joe Craig said Proposition A — which totals about $2.3 million — contained the bond’s top priorities.
Those priorities include replacing roofing older than 20 years, replacing buses older than 15 years, replacing heating and air-conditioner units older than 15 years and installing security enhancements.
“We’ve got a lot of really old buses … and they’re going out of order faster than we can replace them,” Craig told the Telegram. “Most of our (school buses) are over 15 years old with over 200,000 miles … and if you can’t afford new ones, you have to keep the old ones running.”
The superintendent said the district will purchase six new school buses this summer, and will have them delivered sometime this fall.
“A typical school bus is about $100,000 … and we’re looking at six buses. You can hardly get (the price) much cheaper than that,” Craig said.
The Rogers ISD leader said the district is beginning to prepare for some of those projects outlined in Proposition A.
“We will be working with an engineer to develop the specifications we will use when seeking bids to replace the identified roofs in the district over the next several years,” he said in a May newsletter to students. “We (also) will be working on as many of the safety areas as possible this summer to have them in place when staff and students arrive back in August.”
But given the district’s shortened summer this year, Craig emphasized how projects may not be completed by the first day of school.
“There may not be time to get everything done in one summer, so some of the projects will be done either during the next school year or the summer of 2022,” he said.
Troy ISD
In 2019, Troy ISD voters approved an $18.25 million school bond issue that called for campus improvements.
The district — located along Interstate 35 — was targeting additions and renovations to Troy High School and Mays Elementary, and improvements at Raymond Mays Middle and Troy Elementary schools.
High school improvements involved building a new library, turning the library into new classrooms and building 10 entirely new classrooms.
Troy ISD Superintendent Neil Jeter said the board worked closely with Templeton Demographics to estimate how much the student body will grow in the future.
“We pledge our commitment to continue to be good stewards as we move forward with design and construction,” Jeter said when the bond issue was approved in 2019. “This is an important step forward for our students and the entire community. We are excited about the future of Troy ISD.”
Joe Craig, Rogers ISD superintendent
jvalley@tdtnews.com
