The new high school will be built near the intersection of FM 2483 and FM 317 in the city of Temple, and school board members carefully reviewed projections for high school enrollment alongside different options for the campus' size.
Between Belton High School and Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow, the district currently has 3,222 high school students. For UIL purposes, both schools are counted together putting Belton High School in class 6A. Belton ISD's total high school enrollment is projected to exceed 4,400 students in 2025 and 5,000 students by about 2030.
As part of the workshop, school board members reviewed high school options ranging in size from 1,600 to 2,500 students. Most of the discussion focused on two options. The first was a new high school with core facilities (cafeteria, library, etc.) for 2,500 students and classroom space for 2,000 students meaning that the campus would likely be expanded at some point after it opened. The second was a high school with both core facilities and classrooms for 2,500 students.
Trustees plan to take a deeper dive into those two options at their next meeting, which is scheduled for Jan. 23. They also have tentatively planned a meeting for Feb. 6 and may call for a bond election at that time. If so, the bond election would be held on May 6, 2017. The deadline to call for a May bond election is Feb. 17.