Northwest ISD asks voters to approve nearly $2 billion bond package
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — Northwest ISD is asking voters to approve a nearly $2 billion bond package that will help plan for the rapidly growing district's future.
That's apparent when you look around this area as there's new construction popping up all over.
"We've grown at an average rate of 1,000 students per year, but there's been some anomalies. There's been a recent year where we grew by over 2,000 students," said Northwest ISD superintendent Mark Foust.
The surge in enrollment is stark:
- 2003: 6,177 students
- 2008: 11,824 students
- 2013: 17,752 students
- 2018: 23,061 students
- 2023: 29,248 students
"That rapid growth is unprecedented we are considered the fastest growing district in North Texas and because of that, we have facility needs and we want to build facilities to meet the growing students," said Foust.
The district stretches 234 square miles in Tarrant, Denton and Wise counties.
Here's what's in these propositions that people can vote on separately.
- Prop A: New facilities including 12 new schools (2 of which will be replacement schools) capital improvements and transportation with new buses which has a price tag of $1,672,193,000
- Prop B: Home stadiums at 3 high schools and field renovations at Texan Field costing $301,555,000.
- Prop C: Technology devices for students and teachers for $21,752,000.
The total cost of all three propositions comes out to $1,995,500,000.
"This bond program is planning for the future, it's not to meet all our immediate needs. We're meeting those needs concurrently with previous bonds that have been passed. This is planning for the next 8,400 students," said Foust.
The district said the bond program would be paid for by a $0.001 tax increase. For an average $450,000 house, that would mean an extra $4.10 to $4.15 bump in taxes per year.
"The reason why it's such a small tax increase for the average homeowner in our area is because the property value growth in our 234 square miles is pretty significant," added Foust.
This bond proposal was created based on the recommendations by a citizens group called the Long-Range Planning Committee. They presented the bond proposal to the NISD Board of Trustees, who voted on Monday to put it on the ballot.
This nearly $2 billion bond package will head to voters on May 6th.
For more in-depth information on what's all in the bond proposal, click here.