Understanding The RENEW HISD Plan 

Houston Independent School District (HISD) is rolling out the RENEW HISD initiative—a comprehensive proposal aimed at transforming school facilities across the district. The plan highlights investments to ensure that Houston’s children are educated in environments that are safe, healthy, and future-ready. With aging campuses and temporary buildings becoming increasingly inadequate, the district is focusing on long-term solutions.

Goals

HISD has centered its 2024 bond proposal on five key principles:

1. Maximize investments in student safety, health, and capacity: HISD will meet the mandates of HB3 to secure schools and classrooms, improve the quality of air and water, and expand campuses to reduce overcrowding.
   
2. Prioritize investments to achieve the district’s goals: Investments will focus on improving learning conditions, narrowing achievement gaps, enhancing student technology, and accomplishing the goals of the HISD Board and Administration.
   
3. Meet the challenges of the future: HISD aims to strengthen early childhood education and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to equip students for the workforce.
   
4. Improve access for families and neighborhoods: The district will focus on renewing facilities and enhancing connectivity between schools and communities.
   
5. No tax increase: The bond proposal is designed to support these goals without raising taxes, leveraging HISD’s AAA bond rating for low-interest borrowing.

Key Investments

The RENEW HISD bond outlines significant projects under three main areas of focus:

1. Safe and Healthy Campuses: The investment will ensure school safety through infrastructure enhancements, such as single-point entry systems, lead-free campuses, and upgraded heating and air conditioning systems to ensure optimal learning environments.
   • Investment: $1.35 billion
     
2. Future-Ready Learning Spaces: The proposal emphasizes preparing students for future success by expanding access to early childhood education, upgrading CTE programs, and providing modern technology. HISD plans to build three new Career Centers to improve access to career training across the district.
   • Investment: $1 billion
     
3. Restoring Houston’s Schools: Focusing on schools with the most urgent structural needs or severe overcrowding, HISD will modernize and renovate facilities to meet today’s educational and environmental standards.
   • Investment: $2.05 billion

With HISD being the largest school district in Texas and serving a diverse student population, this bond could impact over 183,000 students.

Final Reminder for Voters

Houston voters have the chance to weigh in on HISD’s 2024 bond proposal during the general election on November 5. It’s important to verify your voter registration status ahead of time. You can easily confirm your registration by visiting the VoteTexas.gov website.

Important Dates:

• Early Voting: October 21 – November 1, 2024
• Election Day: November 5, 2024

Stay updated with the latest HISD news! Download our new HISD Source app, available for both Android and Apple devices.