Connally ISD is moving forward with consolidating its elementary school campuses after canceling a $5.9 million bond election for May that would have helped with the transition.
Connally ISD trustees called the bond election on Feb. 12 during a special meeting, then voted two weeks later to cancel it based on new projections of enrollment and savings from the school consolidation.
The consolidation plan comes after a drop in elementary enrollment and the failure of three bond elections meant to replace the aging Connally Elementary School. The district is also in the process of being taken over by a state-appointed board and conservator due to years of failing grades at two campuses.
The plan, which conservator Andrew Kim supports, will close Connally Elementary School at 300 Cadet Way. Its fourth- and fifth-graders will be moved to Connally Primary School, about two miles north in Elm Mott, which now houses grades first through third.
Connally Primary School will also be the new home for grades prekindergarten through kindergarten, which now attend the Connally Early Childhood Center next to Connally Elementary. That facility will continue to house day care programs.
The $5.9 million bond would have included funds to enhance and expand the Elm Mott campus, adding portable buildings, repairing and adding roads, replacing school buses and replacing some heating and air conditioning units.
But continuing elementary enrollment decline could make some of those improvements unnecessary.
For now, the early childhood center and elementary school have a combined 459 students and the primary school has 437, which would mean a combined elementary population of about 900. The primary school campus has a capacity of about 800 students.
However, the district expects the combined elementary population to dwindle to 756 by fall. District officials said they are prepared to add portable buildings if enrollment at the consolidated school exceeds capacity.
“Depending on enrollment, the building is actually equipped with the infrastructure needed to house and educate the students,” Connally ISD spokesperson Michael Donaldson said by email Tuesday. “There are definitely bucket list items that we hope to tackle – having additional playground equipment, expanding communal spaces, etc. – but those projects can be phased in as time and finances allowed.
Elementary troubles
The closure of Connally Elementary would save Connally ISD more than $100,000 in utility costs alone.
That school, along with Connally Junior High School, triggered the state takeover after they each received five consecutive “F” grades under the state accountability system.
Kim, the Texas Education Agency conservator, previously toured the existing Connally Elementary School campus and reported it is in “terrible” condition.
At the Feb. 12 board meeting, he said a school should be a “point of pride” for its students.
“When you see those faces of those fourth- and fifth-graders, who by the way are at a very critical age, and are surrounded by that hallway, the dim lighting and so forth, it was not a good situation,” he said.
The elementary school was built in 1961. It would cost $36.7 million to replace, according to a 2025 facility study.
“Moving them regardless of the bond issue is the right thing to do,” Kim told the board Feb. 12.
The district has tried to pass bonds for several years, only to get rejected by voters. During its last bond election in 2024, trustees proposed a $60 million bond to build a new elementary school and expand the grade levels it serves.
The district has lost 184 elementary students over the last year, officials said. Overall, the district enrollment is 1,931 and is continuing to drop, Bottelberghe said. State reports show the district had 2,362 students in 2018-19.
At the Feb. 12 meeting, Kim said the TEA had no position for or against a bond election.
Big changes ahead
Although the new board of managers could call for a bond election in November, it is unlikely due to other district needs, Bottelberghe said. The new board is expected to be seated thai summer.
The district plans to absorb teachers and support staff at the primary campus. But the district is likely eliminating positions in administration and office staff, Bottelberghe said.
“The hope is those who opt to be here will continue on and continue teaching with the same grade level,” Bottelberghe said in an interview with The Waco Bridge on Tuesday. “The ones that it has the most impact on will be your administrative staff, or even your office staff. Some of those positions may be going away, but of course, the aspiration is that we will have them find another position that they qualify for.”
Trustees voted Feb. 26 to cancel the bond by a 5-1 vote. Trustees Diane Davis, Keith Lowrey, Kathy Coker, Keith Black and Carter voted for the cancellation during a special meeting on Feb. 26 after returning from closed session. Trustee Heather McCarthy-Johnston voted against the cancellation.
Connally ISD began considering plans to consolidate campuses last spring due to the impact changing campuses every few years had on students. The district did a facility study in 2025 to assess campus needs.
“When students have fewer transitions throughout their education journey, it’s going to benefit them,” Bottelberghe said on Tuesday. “Because it’s like if you go into a workplace, and once you learn this is how everything operates here, it’s the same way for a student on a campus. They know exactly what the culture is. They know exactly what the expectation is. So they have an opportunity to grow and thrive in that environment as opposed to the former arrangement that we had.”
