In a landmark moment for Bryan ISD, voters overwhelmingly approved a $397 million bond in the Nov. 4 general election, passing it with 62% support. The bond consists of three propositions: general projects, athletic facility improvements, and technological upgrades, impacting all 23 Bryan ISD campuses and involving collaboration across the entire community.
“It’s a great day to be a Viking,” Superintendent Ginger Carrabine said. “I believe we have tremendous momentum right now because the community, by voting yes, sent a message that they believe in us and trust us. The bond benefits student achievement, attendance, classroom behavior, student engagement, and family engagement.”
This multi-hundred-million-dollar investment aims to improve a wide range of district facilities and programs that serve nearly 16,000 students, creating both immediate enhancements and long-term growth throughout Bryan ISD.
“This bond is going to have a lot of impact, especially in our sports and our CTE programs like welding, cosmetology, and baseball,” junior Kyle Esco said. “A big effect for future generations is definitely coming.”
Many faculty members are excited about the passage of the bond and believe it will lead to significant, beneficial changes for the school district’s future, and are planning to coordinate construction while classes are in session.
“This is probably going to be a minimum three- to four-year process,” Bryan High principal Dr. Bowhuis said. “We’re not building an entire high school, but schools our size typically take that long, and we’ll have to do ours in phases because we’ll be in school during construction. Projects like these become part of our history.”
The bond has been in development for the past six years under the supervision of a Bond Steering Committee created specifically for this bond, which has focused on transparency and community involvement.
“I’ve been involved with the bond process since July of 2019, and I’m a community member, own a small business, and my son is a sophomore at Rudder,” Bond Steering Committee chair Amy DuBose said. “We’ve really grown to love and be active with Bryan ISD.”
Over the past half-decade, the Bond Steering Committee has unfolded its development process of the bond, cutting back in different areas of improvement and focusing on higher priority items and immediate improvements, such as building maintenance, technology advancement, and fine arts improvements.
“We originally started with $800 million worth of projects, and where we landed was $397 million,” DuBose said. “You weed out and figure out your highest priorities of need.”
Communication and civic engagement are key in such a community-involved process like the development of a multi-hundred-million-dollar bond, and this focus was prominent in the development of the bond by the Bryan ISD Board and Bond Oversight Committee.
“This process was richer because it was 100% grassroots with parents, community leaders, and business owners,” DuBose said. “Everyone had their hand in it from start to finish.”
The development of the bond has been primarily based on feedback from students, teachers, parents, and citizens throughout the community, with the Bond Steering Committee prioritizing involvement within the district.
“The Bryan ISD process is really unique. They pull community members, parents, former educators, current educators, and admins into a 60-65 person steering committee,” DuBose said. “We met over eight months and really looked at all the needs.”
Students throughout the district were asked for their opinions on their school’s most pressing needs, and their feedback was instrumental in shaping the bond as a whole.
“They asked me for student input about what our school needed most, and I think they really listened to our feedback,” Esco said. “What we students brought up, like sports, CTE, and our bathrooms, is exactly what ended up in the bond.”
For all three propositions, the primary focus of the bond is to increase the number of contingencies and opportunities for students in Bryan ISD, as highlighted by its components that cover a wide range of subjects and programs.
“Bryan ISD is dedicated to the whole child. It’s not just about college anymore,” Pavlas said. “We’re providing opportunities for every student—welding, cosmetology, journeyman programs, and more.”
Given the impact and the funds dedicated to the bond, the 2025 Bond was divided into three separate propositions. Proposition A was the most significant part of the bond, dedicating $325,515,000 to facility updates, upkeep, and improvements for the school district, and passed with a 65% approval rate.
“Proposition A is the biggest one—about $325 million,” DuBose said. “It’s the big mama of all of them, touching all 23 campuses with safety and security, facility updates, and fine arts improvements.”
Also included in Proposition A was the renovation of numerous Career and Technical Education programs across the school district, enabling more Bryan ISD students to smoothly advance into the workforce.
“CTE is absolutely at the forefront of all that we do in Bryan ISD,” Carrabine said, “We want our kids to graduate not just with a diploma but with legitimate skills that could lead to high-wage, high-demand jobs.”
Fine arts improvements were also heavily sought after in the creation of the bond, causing Proposition A to encompass new band trailers, uniforms, and equipment, cosmetology and barbering labs, and an expansive Bryan High Auditorium.
“I’m excited for the new auditorium because it’s a game changer for us,” Bowhuis said. “We’ll finally have a true Bryan High School auditorium where performances, fundraisers, mariachi, orchestra, band, cheer, and theatre events can all take place.”
Also encompassed in Proposition A is the expansion of the Bryan High School cafeteria, which will be one of the most directly influencing parts of the bond for high schoolers.
“The one thing that will impact every single student is the cafeteria expansion,” Bowhuis said. “We may have the potential to lessen the number of lunch periods and give more time back to the day for instruction.”
Proposition B, with its primary focus on athletic facility improvements, passed with 54% approval and received an allocation of $67.4 million, with a large share of the funds going toward the complete rebuilding of the Bryan High School Fieldhouse.
“This new fieldhouse will house all athletics, not just football,” DuBose said. “Right now, coaches are literally playing musical chairs with locker space every day.”
Also entailed in Proposition B of the Bryan ISD Bond is the addition of synthetic turf for both Bryan and Rudder High School baseball and softball fields and the replacement of Merrill Green’s scoreboards.
“We have to think about the safety and security of our athletes,” Carrabine said. “I also believe we’re the only school district in the Brazos Valley without turf, so we just want to level the playing field.”
The third part of the bond, Proposition C, passed with 67% approval and dedicates $4 million to the redevelopment of instructional technology in the classroom.
“Prop C is our little baby bond,” DuBose said. “It unifies the digital whiteboards and classroom technology across the district and covers licensing, which is pricey.”
Now that the bond has been passed, the main goal of the Bond Steering Committee is to ensure and maintain the bond’s development over the next few years and to provide significant transparency to the Bryan community about its implementation through social media and clear communication.
“Everything is on the Bryan ISD website, and I’m going to keep our Facebook page updated with campus progress,” DuBose said. “It’s important for people to see the work happening.”
With the bond passed, Carrabine says the physical process of administering the bond can now begin.
“We will follow all the legal guidelines, which include hiring an architect, hiring engineers, hiring construction managers, and other subject matter experts,” Carrabine said. “We’re always looking for the best value through a very methodical selection process.”
One of the main arguments against the bond was the fear that the addition of the almost $400 million project would lead to an increase in tax rate for the community of Bryan, but Pavlas says that there was actually no increase in the fiscal tax rate for the community.
“People always worry about taxes, but Bryan ISD has pulled the tax rate down 41 cents in the last 10 years,” Pavlas said. “There was no tax rate increase with this bond.”
Carrabine hopes that the addition of the bond will exemplify the Bryan ISD ideal of putting children first.
“Our vision in Bryan ISD is ‘Children First, Always,’” Carrabine said, “We made sure that the bond stayed true to our board goals, to our vision, and kept the taxpayer in mind so we didn’t negatively impact the tax rate.”
Bowhuis hopes that the oversight committee’s vision will focus on both short-term and long-lasting changes and renovations throughout the bond’s implementation.
“You have to look at long-term advantages and short-term construction at the same time,” Bowhuis said. “It’s like playing chess and checkers—focusing only on one or the other can lead to mistakes.”
While many members of the community are excited about all the changes that are to come from the bond, some students hope the school district focuses on the long-term developments and benefits of the bond rather than the immediate changes.
“I think long-term changes are more important,” Esco said. “Even though changes could happen right now, if it takes longer, they’ll get it right, pay attention to the little things, and make it last longer.”
More than anything else, Carrabine says she appreciates the unity of the community fighting for the everyday enhancement of children’s lives.
“I’m most proud of our community—our school community of students, staff, families, and community members—uniting for the common good of children,” Carrabine said. “We are very appreciative and so grateful for our community for believing in us and investing in our facilities in this way.”
According to Carrabine, the impact of the passing of the $397 million bond for the school district will stretch far beyond physical classroom doors and into the development, engagement, and preparation of thousands of current and future Bryan ISD students.
“This bond is just making sure that we have adequate resources for our staff to use to best engage our students,” Carrabine said, “and to prepare them for a future beyond their imagination.”
