The Fort Bend (Texas) school board has voted to put a bond proposal seeking nearly $1 billion on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The district says the $992.6 million bond referendum will pay for the first of a two-phase, six-year plan to address capital needs in the district. Fort Bend projects that its student enrollment, now about 75,000, will surpass 85,000 students by 2027.

Plans call for the $992 million bond referendum to be followed in 2021 by a projected $705.2 million bond request.

Fort Bend developed the bond proposal through an extensive facilities master planning process that began in January 2018. It helped identify construction projects and other life-cycle maintenance and adequacy needs essential for the next six years. 

The elements of the bond package include:

•¨$403.4 million for new construction, rebuilds and additions, including the construction of three elementary campuses, design of one middle school, construction of one high school, the rebuild of Lakeview Elementary and Meadows Elementary, and additions at Madden Elementary and Neill Elementary.

•$396.5 million to address life-cycle deficiencies and educational adequacy across the District.

•$14.9 million to pay for safety and security upgrades and investments.

•$10.6 million for transportation.

•$142.6 million for technology.

•$19.7 for land purchases.