The NBISD Board of Trustees met on December 9, 2024 for a regular meeting. The agenda for this board meeting featured the following:

Highlights of this meeting’s Agenda include:

Report – NBISD PTA Council State of the Council

NBISD’s Council PTA President Jessica Fisher provided the annual PTA State of the Council report to share the council priorities: Support Local Leaders, Operate as a Council of PTA’s, and Promote National and Texas PTA.

The PTA Council serves to encourage, inspire, support, and strengthen local PTA leaders through training, development, or incentivization. Service to local PTA’s does not stop at the PTA level, council members serve directly on campuses to assist as needed. The Council serves to increase membership and to align local PTA’s with Texas PTA’s purposes of promoting the welfare of children, advocating for laws, promoting collaboration of families and educators, engaging the public, and advocating for fiscal responsibility.

The NBISD Council of PTA’s goals for this school year include school safety, bringing the community and PTA together (Community + PTA = Unity), encourage leadership through local PTA’s, bring legislative issues to the forefront, and continue membership increase across the community.

Report – Fall 2024 NBISD Demographics

School District Strategies (SDS) provided an updated demographic report to aid our district with long-term planning to provide efficient district operations. SDS utilizes several tools to develop their projections including enrollment data, construction activity, birth rate counts, student mobility data, student yields analysis, transfer data, employment trends and other growth drivers.

PreK numbers are the highest they have been post-pandemic. Fourth grade to 12th grade are also seeing record highs in numbers. However, kindergarten through second grade have seen a slower rate of growth.

NBISD has grown in 8 out of the last 10 years, averaging a 1.6% annual growth. Growth in NBISD has been somewhat slower post-pandemic, averaging 0.7% per year. Several factors are influencing the enrollment growth including: 

  • Population aging in place in established/mature areas of the district
  • Flat-to-declining birth rate
  • Lower kindergarten enrollment post pandemic
  • Competition from homeschooling, charter school and open enrollment
  • High mortgage rate interest rate environment slows pre-owned home sales/affordability issues
  • 50% of the district’s new home construction now occurs on smaller lots (40-49 ft. wide) that generally produce fewer school-aged children

The demand for new homes within NBISD has improved over the last year, climbing to a 2-year high. Most of these active subdivisions will be in the elementary boundaries of Klein Road, Veramendi and Lamar. Nearly 9,750 single family residential lots and nearly 1,500 apartments are planned in the district in the Fall of 2024. Apartments are yielding 0.25 enrolled students per unit, while the typical square foot home provides a yield of 0.4 student per home. NBISD is expected to see approximately 3,700 new homes built and occupied over the next 5 years. District enrollment is projected to remain near 1% annual growth in the near term and surpass 10,000 students within the next year or two. 

Report – Future Focused 2030: Future Ready Learning Experiences and Attendance Zoning Process

New Braunfels ISD will release the first scenario of new elementary attendance zones that will take effect for the 2025-26 school year to the community on December 10th.

NBISD will need to rezone elementary schools as two new campuses are set to open in the Fall of 2025 because of growth and aging facilities in the district. In August, the new Lamar Elementary School off Loop 337 will open as part of the Unicorn feeder pattern. Legend Point Elementary also will open in August as part of the Dragon feeder pattern.

Additionally, NBISD recently announced a five-year strategic plan – Future Focused 2030: A Collaborative Vision for NBISD. This vision was developed by NBISD stakeholders and includes what the district should prioritize over the next five years as we continue to grow, innovate and respond to the needs of our students.

Pillar 2 of NBISD’s new strategic plan looks to support more engaging, relevant and future ready learning experiences for all of our students. The district wants to make sure that students will have access to a variety of learning experiences that support future readiness in our ever-changing world.

“In response to elementary enrollment numbers and with guidance from our Strategic Plan, we identified the opportunity to open a district wide elementary magnet school for NBISD students at one of our current elementary facilities,” said Dr. Laurelyn Arterbury, NBISD’s Superintendent of Schools.

A Future Ready Learning Implementation Team will be created in early 2025 to begin planning for the first elementary magnet school in district history. The new school is set to open in August 2026 at the current County Line Elementary campus. With that being said, County Line Elementary will be closed after the 2025-2026 school year and students who live in the County Line attendance zone will be rezoned to another campus near their homes. 

Dr. Laurelyn added, “Reopening County Line as a magnet school is an innovative and responsive solution for our community who is telling us they want to see future ready learning experiences.”

To read more on the details on the rezoning process, review the proposed Unicorn and Dragon Elementary Attendance Zone scenarios and provide your feedback, please visit: bit.ly/NBISD-rezone.

Consider Approval of New Braunfels High School Stadium Light Replacement

The NBISD Board of Trustees approved to retrofit the lighting at Unicorn Stadium. As part of the 2024 Bond Program, the lighting at the Stadium has reached its life capacity and has become outdated. Due to the age and style of the bulb (metal halide lamp system), it has become difficult to service these lights or replace them. The new lighting system will have LED lights, making the lamps up-to-date with current standards.

Bond funds in the amount of $324,000 will be used to pay for retrofitting the lights. With retrofitting the lights, the stadium will retain its large metal light poles that have become synonymous with Unicorn Stadium. Plans are for the lights to be installed between the soccer season and graduation.

Upcoming School Board Meetings

The next regular board meeting will be held on January 13th at 6:00 pm. If you would like to make a public comment at an upcoming board meeting please fill out the request form.

Learn more about the New Braunfels ISD Board of Trustees on our website where you can find recordings and agendas from past board meetings.

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