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April 4th Tomball ISD Meeting at Lakewood

I attended the April 4th meeting at Lakewood Elementary school to discuss Tomball ISD's upcoming Facility Study Process. This is the first such meeting that I have attended and was surprised at the level of tension in the meeting from the very beginning.

Some of the anger voiced at the meeting involved Tomball ISD's failure to begin this process earlier. Superintendent Neubauer indicated that the goal was to undergo a Facility study every 5 years and it has been 7 years since the last study was done. The Board members indicated that they didn't feel the District was growing fast enough to warrant the study, so they delayed the process until this year. While I do not have any kids in Tomball High School, every indication is that THS is over crowded already and will continue to worsen until the issue is addressed.

I think the end result of this study will be a big group of really smart people getting together and saying..."Hey, I think we need a new High School". The problem with the timing is that any new High School will not open until January 2010 at the earliest. Given a modest 3% increase in attendance over the next few years, that puts the 2009-10 enrollment right at 3000 kids. This will certainly have Tomball High School pushed to its max. That being said, this is the situation we have to deal with, so lets move forward and try and do what is right to make sure that our kids get the best education possible.

Of course, one of the main questions everyone is wondering about is where this new High School will be built, if approved. Once again, I think rumors and misinformation have led everyone to believe that all of this has already been decided, but it hasn't. I have my opinion and I am sure you do as well, but the most logical choice would be to put the new High School in the southern part of the District. I think it would be difficult for anyone without a preset agenda would come to any other conclussion. After the new construction of Northpointe Intermediate School and Willow Wood Junior High in the Southern part of the District, the logical next step is to build the High School in the area as well.

Tomball ISD Facility Study Timeline

Facility Study 2006-2007
Timeline

March 7,2006 Board of Trutees approval of the Facilities Study andTimeline

May 9,2006 Board of Trustees appoints Steering Committee; Charge to Committee and parameters identified

July 24,2006 1st Steering Committee meeting

August 7,2006 Organization and 1 St meeting of Subcommittees

Aug 7-Nov 16 Subcommittees conduct research and develop recommendations to Steering Committee

Nov 16,2006 Subcommittees report recommendations to Steering Committee

December 5,2006 Steering Committee conducts Public Forum

January 9,2007 Steering Committee makes recommendation to Board

Jan 9-Mar 5,2007 Board evaluates recommendations and develops proposal

If indicated:
March 6, 2007 Board calls for Bond Election

April 25,2007 Early voting begins

May 12,2007 Bond Election Day

Tomball ISD Facility Study Process

Here is the text of the document handed out at the April 4th meeting at Lakewood Elementary:

Facility Study Process
2006-2007

The Board of Trustees of the Tomball Independent School District has commissioned a study to be conducted by members of the Tomball Independent School District communityto assess the needs for facilities improvements and expansion for the years 2006-2007through 2010-201 1. A group of prospective participants will be selected by the T.I.S.D.Board of Trustees to form a core of committee members. This core group of members willmeet to organize, divide into subcommittees and solicit other interested people. Additionalparticipants will be solicited via the media and notices sent out to each parent in the district.A meeting will then be held for all interested participants to organize and divide intosubcommittees.

The group will organize themselves into three subcommittees under an overallsteering committee

• Student Growth and Instructional Facilities Subcommittee
• Educational Adequacy of Existing/Support Subcommittee
• Financing Facilities for Student and Program Growth Subcommittee

These subcommittees will study such topics as demographics of the area, populationprojections, programs of other school districts, the district's current financial position andmethods of financing capital expenditures. They may visit campuses, interview teachersand administrators, and do independent research on current quality levels of programs,instruction, and finance in the public education field. Each subcommittee will report ontheir findings and make recommendations to the Steering Committee. The SteeringCommittee will analyze the reports and develop their findings and recommendations.

The findings and recommendations of the Steering Committee will be presented at apublic forum, with the purpose of explaining the process for and conclusions of their studyand soliciting response from the public. The Steering Committee will then present theirfindings and recommendations to the TISD Board of Trustees.

The Board will make a determination, based upon the report of the SteeringCommittee, of the facility needs of the district for the next 5 years and the means to addressthese needs. If a bond election is indicated, the Board will develop the bond proposal andcall the election.

Welcome

Thanks for taking the time to check out my Blog. I attended a meeting at Lakewood Elementary school on Tuesday, March 4th to discuss Tomball ISD and future sites for new schools in the district.

The most important thing I learned at the meeting was that there is a lot of miss-information out there. As mentioned at the meeting, there are a lot of rumors or "bus-stop" talk about what has already happened or will happen regarding future facilities and mainly a new high school in Tomball.

For this reason, I have decided to start a blog to put out the information I have on this process. I plan to actively participate in this process and will update this blog with any and all information I get along the way. Please check back when possible for updates.