Leander ISD celebrated Veterans Day last week by welcoming America’s heroes to events, performances and learning engagements. It is important  for our students to learn about the sacrifices our nation’s veterans have made to serve this country.  

These men and women served to safeguard the freedoms we cherish, one of which is the right to cast a vote to direct our public entities, including LISD.

As you may know, voters approved the district’s $454.4 million bond proposal on Nov. 7. I want to thank the voters of Leander ISD for participating in the democratic process and providing our team of educators with clear instructions for addressing growth, student safety and our aging facilities. I’m excited to carry out this community’s vision for our schools and to work with a board focused on responsibly executing our agreement with voters.

This month, LISD administration will begin the process of forming a standing citizens’ Bond Advisory Committee to meet and to review the progress of projects from this bond package, as well as plan and provide input for the projects on the next bond package. The team will meet at least quarterly and make regular presentations to the LISD Board of Trustees.

We will also begin discussions on hiring contractors and setting attendance zones for Elementary School 27. At the Nov. 16 regular board meeting, LISD’s demographer will present a final report that will include the location of that new school, which is slated to open in August 2019, the first of four new schools in four years.

The board will discuss the sequence of projects from the bond and construction should start in June 2018.

Finally, our facilities and operations team will present a recommendation for the summer maintenance program. Because we now have bond funding available to pay for growth, facility improvements and safety, we expect to have greater flexibility in our maintenance budget throughout our schools.

I want to thank our community, the 155 volunteers who created the bond recommendation and our Board of Trustees for its guidance during this process. It is extraordinary to be a part of a school system where families and educators come together as one community, with one purpose, to support #1LISD.