Lampasas Independent School District is continuing to grow based on enrollment numbers from the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, LISD finished with 3,559 students. As of Aug, 16, the district has 3,640 students enrolled across its five campuses.
Taylor Creek Elementary School in the eastern part of Lampasas County is where the district is witnessing the most growth. Last year, Taylor Creek finished with 523 students on the last day of school, compared to 537 on the first day this year and 559 enrolled as of Aug. 16.
“Taylor Creek is coming up again, which is a little bit surprising because that is a little bit above what the demographic study showed which is a little bit of reason to be alarmed,” LISD Superintendent Dr. Chane Rascoe said.
In October, the district received a demographic study from Zonda Education on student growth. From 2017 to 2022, LISD was the sixth–fastest growing district of the 77 school districts in Region 12. During that period, LISS grew 219 students, only beyond Belton, Midway, Salado, Academy, and China Springs.
The 10-year plan developed by Zonda predicted that LISD’s enrollment would rise by 500 students. Zonda provided an estimated enrollment of 4,145 for the 2033-3034 school year.
Rascoe says the district will consider rezoning in upcoming school years to address the growth at Taylor Creek. Also, he emphasizes the need for an additional wing at the elementary school campus to accommodate student growth.
Growth at the district’s other two elementary schools is not as noticeable. Kline Whitis Elementary School’s enrollment finished last school year with 446 students, which is the same number as of Aug. 16.
Hanna Springs Elementary School ended the 2023-2024 school year with 722 students. As of Aug. 16, the campus has 680 students – a slight decrease.
Lampasas Middle School has seen a minimal increase, finishing last year with 803 students and currently holding 810 students.
Along with the need to add an additional wing at Taylor Creek, Rascoe highlights the need for a new middle school campus.
“The middle school is the one that keeps me personally up at night because it needs to improve safety-wise, there are too many access points,” Rascoe said. “We have done a monumental job of trying to secure it, but until you reduce the footprint and secure it via fencing and other building, until we can do that we can’t rest on our laurels.”
Rascoe says a new wing at Taylor Creek and middle school campus could feature in a bond in May 2026. Discussions are likely to arise in upcoming board meetings later in the year. He notes the district would not need to raise the tax rate if it went for a bond in 2025.
LISD has proposed a tax rate of $1.0152 per $100 in property valuation for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Along with campus improvements, the district requires additional school buses – specifically those with air conditioning. However, school buses come with a heavy price tag. Additional school buses and special needs buses did not make the cut in the district’s 2024-2025 proposed budget.
“We are going to have to come back with those buses. I would prefer 20 of them, but they are about $150,000 a piece.” Rascoe said.
Overall, the enrollment bump will be a positive for the district. The stat provides the school district with $6,160 per student. A rise in 81 students brings nearly $500,000 more in funding to the district. More funding is always welcome as LISD will be forced to dip into savings once again for the upcoming budget.
“That is enough to make up some of the issues you have, but then again you have to have staff for that,” Rascoe said. “We are definitely growing.”