DRIPPING SPRINGS – In May, Dripping Springs ISD voters will be asked to consider a bond package on an upcoming ballot that totals $402.3 million.
The DSISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to call for a school bond election to go on the May 3 election ballot in a special meeting Feb. 6. This follows work that the Long-Range Facility Planning Committee (LRFPC) — represented by more than 50 parents, students, staff and community members — has done since the fall of 2023 to reconvene and plan for the next several years of facility needs for the district based on project student growth.
This also comes after DSISD voters approved a $223.7 million bond referendum in May 2023, which consisted of one proposition focused on projects for the district’s growth, capital improvement and renovation projects, including building a sixth elementary school — now named Wildwood Springs– — expanding Sycamore Springs Middle School and designing a seventh elementary school, third middle school and second high school.
Prior to that, voters did not approve any of the three proposed bond propositions, totaling $481 million, in the Nov. 8, 2022, election. A component of that bond was the construction of a second high school, which is now being brought back on the ballot for this year.
“The feedback that we got about the previous bond not passing was really more around property taxes and the construction pricing. I think, overall, our community’s really aware of the growth that’s coming in and that that’s really an important part of what’s changing in our community,” said DSISD Superintendent Dr. Holly Morris-Kuentz in a previous News-Dispatch article. “We want to make sure that we can address the growth that’s coming in our district and make sure that we continue to provide a great quality education.”
Along with a focus on construction of DSISD’s second comprehensive high school, the May 2025 bond package — totaling $402.3 million — will also consist of capital improvements and renovations for current campuses.
Proposition A, which sits at $399.7 million, includes:
• Construction of High School #2 (2,500 student capacity)
• Capital improvements and renovations for Dripping Springs High School and Rooster Springs Elementary
• Capital maintenance across district facilities
• Transportation: Seat belts for buses, replacement and growth buses and vehicles
• Technology infrastructure and equipment
• Portables
According to the district, VLK Architects is providing design services for the second high school, which will be located on Darden Hill Road near Cypress Springs Elementary. In 2024, a committee consisting of parents, students, staff and community members was formed to participate in the design process with VLK and district administrators.
“Our goal would be to open that campus in 2027 and so, it’s about 18 months of design … Following the design process, we would go back for bonds when we have more information for our community, as I said, about the career and technical education programs, what the school would look like [and] what phasing would be for opening,” Morris-Kuentz said in 2023. “I think we have a lot more detail in that design process for them. We would look at a ’25 bond that would have us be able to start that facility for an opening in 2027.”
Proposition B, which is $2.6 million, consists of a technology device refresh for teachers, staff and students, along with interactive panels for classrooms.
Any registered voter who resides within the DSISD attendance boundary is eligible to vote in the bond election. The deadline to register to vote is Thursday, April 3. The first day of early voting is Tuesday, April 22, and Election Day is Saturday, May 3.
More information about the proposed bond package will be shared on the DSISD website and the district’s social media channels over the next three months.
