Lubbock ISD trustees vote to call $290 million bond election after Future Focus committee recommendations

Lubbock ISD trustees on Thursday voted 7-0 to call a bond election for May 3, 2025, proposing $290 million in school improvements after a monthslong Future Focus Committee process and a district presentation outlining additional projects.

The Future Focus Committee recommended projects totaling roughly $178.3 million by supermajority of its table groups; district staff told trustees they could expand that slate to $290 million if the district sells bonds in multiple tranches without increasing the current interest-and-sinking (I&S) tax rate. Dr. Rollo, a Lubbock ISD administrator who presented the proposal, said the district would sell the bonds in two phases and has modeled modest property-value growth to avoid raising the tax levy.

Why it matters: The proposal would fund safety and security upgrades, replacement or renovation of aging elementary campuses, academic programming improvements including middle-school science labs and auditoriums, career and technical education expansions, and capital renewal work such as HVAC, plumbing and roofing. District leaders said the package is intended to reduce long-term operating costs by replacing inefficient buildings and consolidating underutilized campuses.

Details of the proposal and Future Focus findings District staff said the Future Focus Committee — more than 100 community members, parents, teachers and students who met repeatedly to review proposals — produced a supermajority-backed list of priorities totaling about…