BRENHAM, Texas — Brenham ISD is trying to pass a bond for the second election in a row that would pay for the construction of a new junior high building as well as improvements to their Career and Technical Education Center.
"When there were so many things packaged into one, people didn't feel like they really had a choice and it was hard to educate the masses on all of those individual needs to truly understand like the context of the why" Brenham ISD Communications Coordinator Brooke Trahan said.
The $111 million project is set to transform the nearly 60-year building. The current principal of the junior high, Michael Watts, graduated high school from the building in 1987."
"The hallways are the same, the lighting still the same. It's just some things right now that are going on with safety issues and different things in school I think we need to change," Watts said. "We have kids go outside and inclement weather they cannot go from class to class. We have to hold off things sometimes just because of the weather."
The other proposition on the ballot in Washington county is the possibility of growing their CTE program, which officials say is at full capacity but with more resources will be able to give back to the community for years to come.
"Currently, because we don't have the facilities we need to keep up with these industries," Trahan said. "These students are able to graduate high school with these licenses and certificates to go straight into our community and help bridge that labor gap."
Regardless of the outcome of the election, the staff at Brenham ISD say they are prepared to do the very best they can with what they have.
"Everything is in God's hands right now. That's why I'm looking at things. If it gets passed, and when it does get passed, we're going to be excited. If it is not getting passed. We're going to do what we have to do to make this place the best school in the state of Texas."