New junior high campus, safety improvements included in Azle school bond package
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Voters in the Azle school district will decide whether to fund a $151.5 million bond package to improve safety and keep pace with growth.
The bond includes replacing Azle Junior High, renovating elementary schools and realigning grade levels to maintain neighborhood schools and keep children closer to their homes.
Early voting continues through Nov. 3 for the Nov. 7 election.
If the bond passes, the total tax rate will be $1.13 per $100 of assessed value, which is 8 cents lower than last year’s rate. Taxes would decrease $213 for the home at the average value of $266,000. They would drop $240 for a $300,000 home.
“This bond is the next step in our plan to stay ahead of enrollment growth, managing it responsibly as it occurs, with an emphasis on improving safety and student opportunities,” school board president Bill Lane said in a bond overview posted on the district’s website.
Growth is a key factor that a planning committee of district employees and community members considered when looking at the district’s needs.
During the past five years, the district added 500 students, but that number is expected to double with 1,000 students expected in the next five years.
Azle has 32 subdivisions where homes are being built and eight future subdivisions, according to information from the school district.
What’s included in the bond package:
Replacing Azle Junior High, which was built in 1953. The new campus for six- through eighth-graders will be on the existing site. Forte Junior High will get more classrooms to ease overcrowding, updated science labs and other renovations. Both junior high campuses will have storm shelters.
The bond package includes renovations at elementary and intermediate schools to create eight pre-K through fifth-grade campuses to maintain neighborhood schools.
The bond would increase the size of the 13-officer police department.