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Increased numbers of students affect Temple, Belton, Salado
Courtesy photo
A student swims in the newly renovated James W. Hardin Swim Center at Temple High School.
Boom towns
BY JOEL VALLEY
TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
There’s a student boom in Central Texas and school districts along Interstate 35, the state’s busiest highway, are seeing students arrive by the dozens every month — an accelerating growth forcing many administrators to evaluate both short- and longterm solutions.
In the Temple and Belton independent school districts, campus improvements are actively underway.
But Temple school board President Dan Posey is excited for the developments.
“It’s the first time we’ve seen growth in TISD in decades,” he said when a recent demographic report projected a sharp rise in enrollment.
“We’ll definitely need it to make decisions about future and immediate needs for our district.”
Templeton Demographics’ report pegs Temple ISD to reach more than 9,700 students by the 2025-26 school year as more than 6,900 future housing lots are planned within its boundaries.
Bob Templeton, vice president for Templeton Demographics, said his firm anticipates this growth in the real estate market to draw 600 new homes annually in about five years — an increase in population that would shift zoning measures for two Temple ISD campuses.
“We do expect (new homes per year) to go from 200 to 600 in about five years … and RayeAllen Elementary and KennedyPowell Elementary will see the largest increase in new singlefamily homes,” Templeton said during Temple ISD’s board meeting March 8.
That increase in new homes could push enrollment at these Temple ISD campuses past their “total functional capacity,” and
Map showing location of Temple ISD campuses. Page 42 Map showing location of Belton ISD campuses. Page 43
Courtesy photo This parcel of land purchased by the Temple Independent School District near the corner of Old Highway 93 and Barnhardt Road eventually will house a new elementary school campus in the southeastern quadrant of the district.
Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott said it is leading toward an immediate need for expansion in the district’s southeast quadrant.
Although Ott told the Telegram in May that a new elementary school in the southeast quadrant — which would take 18 to 24 months to construct — could alleviate some of the campus density, it is not likely to be the lone solution.
“As far as planning goes … there will be a new (bond-funded) elementary school in the near future for the southeast quadrant, plus looking at Kennedy-Powell Elementary and expanding classrooms there,” Ott said. “You could buy some time (doing that). That’s just something to look at and just to kind of put in your mind.” Belton ISD
Belton ISD also is signaling immediate preparations for its own growing enrollment.
In March, Belton ISD trustees approved $1,060,000 in funding for five portable buildings that will be installed at two of its elementary campuses: Tarver Elementary, 7949 Stonehollow Drive in Temple; and Chisholm Trail Elementary, 1082 S. Wheat Road in Belton.
The portables were purchased with surplus funds from 2017’s $149.7 million bond election.
However, Belton ISD Superintendent Matt Smith — who said the expense also will cover related infrastructure, technology and furniture — said it is just a temporary solution.
“We have growth in the north and the south of our district, and we are only in the second year of new attendance boundaries,” Smith said. “We’d like to keep kids at those home campuses. When you add a new school, you have to change attendance boundaries. We want to avoid multiple changes and portable buildings will help us do that in the short term.”
Templeton Demographics forecasts Belton ISD to see a 3,000student increase over the next five years, bringing its enrollment to 15,627 for the 2025-26 school year.
Michelle Box from Templeton Demographics said these estimates — like Temple ISD’s — can be attributed to new home sales tripling in just the last six years.
“Our job … will be to take this demographic information and pair it with our facilities assessment so we can make the appropriate decisions moving forward in a longrange facility plan,” Smith said. Salado ISD
Further south down Interstate 35 in Salado ISD, Superintendent Michael Novotny said his district’s enrollment projections have shown to be mostly accurate.
“It’s been a few years, but we used Templeton Demographics … but it did a 10-year enrollment projection,” Novotny told the Telegram. “Up until this year, we’ve always been real close to or even a little bit ahead of those projections.”
Although Salado ISD’s enrollment fell short of its 2,122 projected figure following the onset of COVID-19 in Bell County, Novotny anticipates the district will see an influx of students by next year.
“I do think that we’ll see that growth again this coming year … but it probably will exceed (2,198) because we’re seeing more and more housing developments,” Novotny said. “In fact, one big one is across (from) our new middle school.”
That development — situated southwest of the intersection of West Village Road and Williams Road — is an 86.7-acre property designated for mixed-use that is expected to bring in 175 new homes.
In recent years, Salado ISD saw a number of changes, including a new middle school, improvements to the stadium, new sports facilities and additions to Thomas Arnold Elementary.
jvalley@tdtnews.com
