DALLAS — Denton Independent School District in north Texas is asking voters for $312.6 million of general obligation bonds in November to build new schools for an expanding population.
The district north of Dallas and Fort Worth is currently adding 1,000 new students a year. Enrollment, currently at 27,000, is expected to top 36,000 by 2022.
The existing high schools are at their capacity, trustee Charles Stafford said.
"In fact they're more than full," Stafford said. "They're past their optimal enrollment and they're going to be a whole lot more crowded by the time we get a new school built."
Every classroom in all three high schools is used, officials said. The high schools had an enrollment of 6,556 last year but expect more than 8,200 students in 2018.
The 2013 project list totals almost $330 million. District officials said $17 million in unused proceeds from the 2007 authorization would be dedicated to the new capital improvement program.
Proceeds from the bonds would fund construction of the district's fourth high school, 23rd and 24th elementary schools, and eighth middle school. Bond projects would also include renovations at 17 campuses and land acquisition for future schools.
The new high school is expected to cost $149.6 million. If voters approve, it would open for the beginning of the 2015 school year.
Voters in the Denton district approved a $282 million bond package in 2007 and $192.7 million of bonds in 2002.
The district's $608 million of outstanding GO debt is rated AA by Fitch and Standard & Poor's, and Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service. The credit is enhanced to triple-A with coverage by the state's Permanent University Fund.
