DALLAS — Katy Independent School District, Texas, wants to build its second football stadium using $70 million of proceeds from a $99 million general obligation bond referendum going to voters in November.
Trustees of the district that serves the Houston suburb of Katy voted Tuesday night to put the bond referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The second stadium would be built on a 58-acre district-owned site adjacent to the existing high school stadium. It would provide a venue for the seventh high school set to open in Katy in 2014.
The 14,000-seat stadium is expected to cost $69.5 million. If voters approve, construction of the stadium would begin next year and be completed by mid-2015.
The capital improvement program also includes a $25 million agricultural sciences facility and a $4.5 million science-technology-engineering project center.
Katy is the only district in Texas with six high schools that share a single football stadium, said executive athletic director Debbie Decker. Scheduling is already difficult, she said, and will get worse as more high schools are built.
The Katy district has more than 67,000 students and is one of the fastest-growing districts in the state. Voters approved a $460 million bond package for the school district in 2006.
Trustee president Rebecca Fox said many were confused at first by the plan to put the new stadium next to the existing one.
"Now people are circulating the idea of what it means to have two stadiums side by side, and the opportunities for things that will come here," Fox said. "We're going to be visionaries in the end."
Approval of the bonds won't raise the Katy district's tax rate for debt service of 40 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, said Tommy Harrison, chairman of the bond committee that recommended the referendum.
"We're very fortunate in that the success of our school district brings in businesses that are looking for a good place for their employees to work," Harrison said. "So as new businesses come in, that adds to the tax rolls."
The district's $1.2 billion of outstanding debt is rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service and AA by Standard & Poor's. Coverage by the Texas Permanent School Fund enhances the credit to triple-A.
In Fort Worth, school trustees on Tuesday pared a proposed November bond referendum to $490 million from earlier projections of almost $600 million.
Fort Worth Independent School District trustees will hold a special meeting Aug. 23 to approve an election ordinance.
The three-part Fort Worth request includes a $386.4 million bare-bones bond proposition that includes the construction of a new high school and classroom additions. Additional options will include a $73.3 million request for several new campuses, and $30 million for non-academic needs such as buses and band uniforms.
School districts in Texas can hold bond elections only in November and May. The deadline for making the Nov. 5 ballot is Aug. 26.
Texas school bond referendums already on the Nov. 5 ballot include a $312 million request by Denton Independent School District. Potential proposals include a $451 million referendum being considered by Comal Independent School District.
