Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/05/25

The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

The project consists of building separate elementary and high-school buildings that will share a new gym and library facility. Construction has an estimated completion date of August 2027, local news reports. Once the new facility opens, the existing high school and elementary buildings will be demolished and replaced with school parking.

According to local news from April 2025, the existing facilities are 76 years old and are aging out of use. Three buildings—extracurricular facilities used for cheerleading, weight training, and athletics—have been condemned. Further review indicated that renovation and repair would cost almost as much as building new facilities.

“This will meet our needs,” said High Island ISD Superintendent David Walker. “This school is a part of the community in a lot of ways. If we didn’t have the school, we wouldn’t have our community.”

12NewsNow reports that design and construction plans will be finalized by September and that groundbreaking is scheduled for January 2026. The project should involve “very minimal traffic issues in moving students and everything,” said Walker.

The bond had originally promised no tax rate increase for local taxpayers. Instead, the district will implement a tax rate decrease of 8 cents, even with the bond’s passage.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • ClassVR Wins Tech & Learning Best of Show at ISTELive 25

    Avantis Education recently announced that its flagship product, ClassVR, won the Tech & Learning Best of Show Award at ISTELive 25 in San Antonio, Texas, according to a news release. The program is designed to celebrate products that are “transforming education in schools around the world and that show the greatest promise for the industry,” and this is the fourth consecutive year that Avantis has claimed the award.

  • S4L Launches 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched its 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which gathers information on K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide from the previous year. The data we get from you, our readers, forms an industry report offering an overview of current trends in school facilities.

  • Ancient Resilience: How Indigenous Intelligence Shapes the 4Roots Education Building

    As climate change intensifies, educational spaces must evolve beyond basic sustainability toward true resilience – we must design environments that can adapt, respond, and thrive amid shifting, and intensifying, climate hazards. Drawing on indigenous wisdom and nature-based strategies, integrating resilient design offers a path to create learning environments that are not only functional but deeply in tune with their natural surroundings.

  • i-PRO, NovoTrax Partner for New School Emergency Response Solution

    i-PRO Americas, Inc., which manufactures edge computing cameras, recently announced a partnership with NovoTrax, provider of end-to-end life safety and mass notification solutions, to address gaps in emergency response workflows at K–12 schools, according to a news release.

Digital Edition