Specific completion and implementation dates for projects have not yet been determined. Scope of construction on the larger capital projects will be determined by the final design of the structures, and that design work would not begin until after the passage of the Bond. The new construction projects are expected to take approximately 18 months to complete, with the phased construction projects taking slightly longer. Should the bond pass, it is expected that the new Florence Elementary and Heritage Elementary campuses would be open in August 2021, while the new Parkview Elementary and Whitley Road Elementary would open in August 2022. 

Keller ISD's Citizens Bond Advisory Committee organized the 2019 Bond Proposal work into 11 projects: 

• District-Wide Safety & Security Upgrades | $19,679,692
• District-Wide Mechanical & Life Safety Upgrades | $30,800,715
• District-Wide Technology Upgrades | $24,328,980
• Florence Elementary School Replacement | $30,091,373
• Heritage Elementary School Replacement | $30,091,373
• Parkview Elementary School Replacement | $33,521,597
• Whitley Road Elementary School Replacement | $32,328,758
• Fossil Hill Middle School Additions & Renovations | $18,321,041
• Keller Middle School Additions & Renovations | $25,414,950
• Indoor Extra-Curricular Program Facilities at High Schools | $48,626,734
• New Industrial Trades and Agriscience Center | $21,509,217

Click here to read more about each project!

Following the adoption of Keller ISD's Core Values in the spring of 2018 – composed from the input of thousands of KISD stakeholders during the KISD Visioning Process – an audit was performed on the District's buildings and facilities. In late 2018, a Long-Range Facility Planning Committee was convened. Composed of more than 260 parents, community members, teachers, administrators, and students from every corner of Keller ISD, the group reviewed helped develop Educational Specifications for KISD campuses and then reviewed the facilities audit to prioritize District facility needs. 

The result of the Long-Range Facility Planning Committee's work was a Long-Range Facility Plan which included 66 projects totaling nearly $1.2 billion that the committee recommended be addressed over the next decade. Upon adoption of this plan, the Board of Trustees convened the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC). The CBAC was tasked to review the Long-Range Facility Plan and decide which projects should be addressed first, taking into consideration the District's financial capacity to finance the projects.

After two months, the CBAC members came to a consensus that 11 projects totaling nearly $315 million should be addressed, noting that Keller ISD has the capacity to sell those bonds without raising the District's tax rate. 

Election Day for the 2019 Keller ISD Bond Proposal will be Tuesday, November 5. Early Voting is scheduled for October 21 through November 1. Information on polling locations will be posted closer to the election, and can also be found on TarrantCounty.com/Elections. KISD voters can cast their ballot in the KISD Bond Election at any Early Voting location in the county. Election Day voting must take place at the voter's assigned precinct. 

The passage of the 2019 Keller ISD Bond Proposal would not raise the KISD property tax rate. Conservative estimates project that the District can sell $315 million in bonds, spread out over the next three years, and make payments on its debt without the need to raise its tax rate. 

Keller ISD's last bond election was in November 2014. That proposal funded the construction of the Keller Center for Advanced Learning, Sunset Valley Elementary School, Vista Ridge Middle School, and Keller ISD Early Learning Center South, as well as renovations and classroom additions at Keller High School, Hillwood Middle School, Bear Creek Intermediate School, and Parkwood Hill Intermediate School. 

In September 2018, Keller ISD held a Tax Ratification Election (TRE). Voters approved the "Tax Rate Swap and Drop," granting the District the authority to raise its maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate $0.13, which it did, while also lowering its interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate $0.14, as promised, for an overall tax rate decrease. This not only generated an additional $19 million in operations revenue for KISD, but put the District in a more favorable position for the Texas State Legislature's recent reworking of education funding, resulting in an even greater reduction in the Keller ISD tax rate (set at $1.4083 for 2019, down from the $1.72 it was in 2006). 

In public education, revenue from M&O taxes is used for operating expenses (such as salaries and daily operating costs of buildings), whereas I&S tax revenue is used to pay off debt from bond elections which fund capital projects (such as new buildings and facility renovations). So last year's TRE authorized Keller ISD to raise its M&O rate – which it did, and then offset by correspondingly lowering the I&S rate plus an additional $0.01 – while a bond election authorizes Keller ISD to sell bonds to fund capital projects. 

On the General Election ballot, the language for the Keller ISD Bond Proposition will read as follows: 

"The issuance of $315,000,000 of bonds by the Keller Independent School District for the acquisition, construction, renovation and equipment of school facilities in the District. Taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds will be imposed."

Voters will then be given the option to select "For" or "Against." The ballot language reflects the $315 million that will be brought in to fund the projects identified by the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee, and while the second sentence mentions taxes imposed, Keller ISD has the capacity to pay the principal and interest on the bonds without raising its tax rate. 

None of the projects in Keller ISD’s 2019 Bond Proposal require the District to purchase new land. All new construction would take place on land currently owned by Keller ISD. This includes the new Industrial Trades and Agriscience Center, which is currently planned for construction on land the District owns in the northwest portion of KISD near Golden Triangle Boulevard and North Riverside Drive.

Both Florence Elementary and Heritage Elementary have space on their property on which the new campus could be constructed while school continues within the current building. Those schools would experience the loss of the use of those fields during construction, and would not regain that space until the new campus has opened and the old building has been razed. 

Parkview Elementary and Whitley Road Elementary do not have the same luxury of real estate, and so the completed new campuses will have to partially sit upon the footprint of the current campus. As such, the construction would take place in phases with a portion of the new building being completed, moving students and staff into the new building, and then demolishing the portion of the building no longer in use so that additional construction can take place in that space. Movements would be coordinated between campus and district administrators and the contractor to create as little disruption as possible for students.

How the Counseling Suites will be added to each intermediate school will depend on a number of factors such as available space at each particular campus and parking availability. Each suite is planned to have its own dedicated exterior entrance and parking area, however, to keep it separate from the intermediate school activity. These suites will be open for use to that school’s entire feeder pattern, providing a place in which families can come together to receive resources or guidance for handling crisis situations. 

Ballistic film is a film that would be strategically added to doors and windows to minimize the ballistic impact of gunfire. While it does not make the glass completely bullet proof, it is designed to slow entry into the building in the event of an active shooter, and a slower entry would allow first responders additional time to arrive at the campus to address the threat. 

Yes; the Bond would renovate spaces and resources at several campuses to better provide the same opportunities for all students across the District. This may mean different elements at different campuses, depending on what exists at that campus today. The Special Education Subcommittee of KISD’s Long-Range Facility Planning Committee identified priorities for resources to meet expected instructional methodologies and support varied learning styles, including indirect lighting, multilayered marker-board systems, new finishes for all levels of Intensity of Support, and other furnishings. Impact Spaces will be installed where applicable for Moderate Support (STARS/CORE) programs as well as Significant Support (LIFE/STACC) spaces.

Campuses that can expect to see Special Education classroom renovations include: 

Bluebonnet Elementary
Keller-Harvel Elementary
North Riverside Elementary 
Park Glen Elementary 
Shady Grove Elementary 
Willis Lane Elementary 
Parkwood Hill Intermediate 
Trinity Meadows Intermediate 
Fossil Hill Middle 
Keller Middle 
Central High 

Additionally, new Special Education classroom spaces would be included in the four elementary schools that would be replaced.

Anyone registered to vote within the Keller Independent School District is eligible to vote in the 2019 KISD Bond Election. If you reside within KISD, pay KISD taxes, and are registered to vote at that address, you are eligible to vote in the Bond Election. Voting is not restricted by city affiliation. Keller ISD’s boundaries surround parts of nine different cities; you DO NOT have to live within the City of Keller to be eligible to vote. 

Election Day is November 5, 2019, and on that day, registered voters can vote at any voting center in Tarrant County. Early Voting will take place October 21-November 1. On those days, registered voters can cast a ballot at any Early Voting location in Tarrant County.

According to VoteTexas.gov, only specific reasons entitle a registered voter to vote early by mail. A voter may request a ballot by mail if he or she: 

1. Will be away from the county on Election Day and during the hours that Early Voting is conducted; 
2. Is sick or disabled; 
3. Is 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
4. Is confined in jail. 

Details about filing an Application for Ballot by Mail (ABBM) can be found at VoteTexas.gov or by clicking here. The last day for the Early Voting Clerk to receive applications for a ballot to be voted by mail is October 25.

Administrators at each high school would decide the most efficient way to manage the use of its indoor extracurricular facilities. Other schools with similar facilities use scheduling or calendar software to sign up for time slots to use the space, so something similar could be employed at Keller ISD’s high schools. 

Click the image below to see  examples of what that scheduling could look like over the course of the school year:

Each high school’s indoor extracurricular facility would include a 100-yard artificial surface. Having a full, 100-yard field within the facility would allow marching bands the space to rehearse their full contest performances. Additionally, other districts have utilized netting, which can be hung from the ceiling of the facility, to divide the field, when needed, so that multiple student groups can use the indoor space at the same time.