CISD makes case for Bond

Cleveland ISD officials held a small gathering of community members to discuss the upcoming CISD Bond issue on the Nov. 2 ballot at the First Baptist Church of Cleveland Monday night. CISD Superintendent Chris Trotter made the presentation which gave a snapshot of the current situation in the district and reasons for the importance of building a second high school campus.

As previously reported, the current Cleveland High School campus is overcapacity, and the growth is projected to far surpass the current numbers over the next few school years, thus leading to the need for the proposed $150 million Bond to construct a new high school campus on the south end of the district.

“It is almost inevitable to go North and South, so we are going to embrace that as a district,” said Trotter.

In the past couple of school years, CISD has added two new Elementary campuses, Cottonwood and Pine Burr, and are constructing Santa Fe Elementary and Santa Fe Middle School in the south end of the district.

On the northern end of CISD, there will be a new Northside Elementary campus, as well as renovating the existing Northside campus. Another project under construction is a brand new baseball and softball complex; these projects are all funded by the 2019 CISD Bond initiative.

This growth is just the beginning for the district. The need for further campus expansion will become even more critical as the student enrollment grows, with the district currently adding an average of 50 students a week.

Trotter pointed out that the school system will need to construct a new elementary campus each year through the 2027 school year under current projections, with the need for more middle school campuses and even a third high school.

When asked about those future plans and the process for the expansion, Trotter explained, “I’ll be transparent, I’ll be factual, and I’ll be forthcoming. We’ll have bonds every 18 months for the foreseeable future.