More than 100 people filed into the newly built Harris Elementary building on a recent spring evening to celebrate the opening of one of Austin ISD’s first projects under the $2.4 billion 2022 bond program.
Located in the Windsor Park neighborhood in Northeast Austin, the new building signals the scale of improvements promised by the 2022 bond program as district leaders say districtwide renovations are about 50% complete. The milestone comes as rising costs tied to inflation and global conflicts have pushed up the price of projects. The voter approved bond included $2.3 billion for general improvements, $75 million for technology upgrades and $47 million for athletics.
District leaders told board members last week that the estimated cost to deliver the bond program is now just over $2.6 billion because of rising construction costs, but they do not foresee a deficit due to interest accrued and money saved from closing campuses.
Costs are expected to remain high, but district leaders told board members they have adjusted for those increases and expect spending to decline as the bond program moves past its peak spending point.
A showcase project amid rising costs
Among the first schools to undergo a full renovation under the 2022 bond program, Harris Elementary students and teachers began 2026 in a new building with flexible open spaces, outdoor areas, art and music studios and a new cafeteria gym with a full stage.
The project was budgeted at $55 million, with an actual spend of $47 million, according to most recent publicly available bond finance documents. The multicultural campus serves students from more than 10 countries, according to the district’s website, and offers dual language programs in Spanish.
Parent Teacher Association member Alice Graulty, whose daughter attends Harris, said the school’s design is much more accessible and modular furniture allows students to work and study in groups inside and outside the classroom. Graulty said she attended Harris Elementary as a child in the school’s former building. She said because of poor signage and design, people often asked her where the previous school was located despite it being in the middle of the neighborhood.
“I feel like the (new) building is set up to respect our children more and give them more independence and allow them to be their own thinkers,” Graulty said. “It is way different than a building that was built in the 50s.”
Despite renovation plans spanning her daughter’s second through fifth grades, Graulty said the timeline passed quickly and the disruption was worth it.
Austin ISD trustee Candace Hunter, who represents Harris’ district, said at the school’s inauguration she was particularly struck by the school’s music room and courtyard when she first visited the school.
“This is part of a much bigger district-wide effort to ensure every Austin ISD campus, no matter where it is located, is a place where students can dream, grow and thrive,” Hunter said.
Bond math: rising costs strain budget
Modernizing Harris Elementary was a top priority for Austin ISD, Superintendent Matias Segura said at the school’s inauguration. Segura praised the building’s sustainable design and credited district construction leaders for managing bond dollars despite rising inflation and material costs.
Austin ISD construction leaders in a presentation to board members in April showed completed renovations at six schools, including Harris, with another four to be completed this summer and 16 more remain in construction.
Two projects, Martin Middle School and Barrington Elementary, have been stopped or paused because the schools are set to close. Bond spending on schools now slated to close has drawn scrutiny after the district spent or committed tens of millions to those campuses. No more schools will close ahead of a districtwide redrawing of boundaries set for later this year, Segura said in April.
District leaders told Austin Current in February they were working to exit over $70 million in committed bond dollars for closing schools.
Closure effects on construction funds
Since then, Segura announced the district would move forward with a budgeted $58 million new building for Oak Springs Elementary, despite announcing in November the campus would close. Instead, students will temporarily transition to Blackshear Elementary, which will ultimately shutter when the new Oak Springs building is completed in 2028.
With rising construction costs tied in part to global conflict, district leaders told board members earlier this month they forecast the bond program’s construction cost to be $217 million above the originally planned $2.4 billion.
However, the district’s construction team was able to close that gap and have $2 million left over due to $109 million originally allotted to closing campuses that will no longer be used for those projects and $110 million in interest accrued.
Michael Mann, the district’s executive director of construction management, said in a statement that roughly 70% of the $109 million from closing campuses were dollars budgeted but not committed and the other 30% money that had previously been committed. Mann said the district still has about $30 million in commitments it still needs to exit.
The $110 million was accrued through depositing the bond money into an interest-bearing account similar to a savings account, where it earns interest over time, Mann said.
“This is a routine part of how bond proceeds are managed, and any accrued interest is typically tracked separately,” Mann said in the statement.
