In the proposed bond, Lake Highlands Junior High would be rebuilt.
Lake Highlands would be first in line for a junior high to middle school transformation in a proposed bond for Richardson ISD.
RISD’s bond steering committee formally presented the bond package for May at a Jan. 11 board of trustees meeting. The committee studied RISD’s enrollment projections and facility and programmatic needs, and informed trustees a $750 million bond could occur with no tax rate increase.
The bond would change RISD’s junior high model to shift sixth graders from elementary schools into a middle school model with seventh and eighth graders.
Phase 1 of the 6th grade transformation timeline would rebuild Lake Highlands Junior High and renovate Forest Meadow Junior High, said committee member Matt Jacob at the meeting. The first sixth grade class of Lake Highlands Middle School and Forest Meadow Middle School would come by the 2024-25 school year.
Further down the line, Phase 2 of the transformation would occur through a potential 2026 bond, and the remaining junior high schools would transform to middle schools. Phase 3 through a 2026 bond would allow RISD to move to Universal Prekindergarten with around 3,100 full-day pre-K seats.
Also at the Jan. 11 meeting, the board unanimously approved a resolution to create a true middle school learning environment in anticipation of the proposed 2021 bond and future bond programs until completed.
