The Mineola School Board voted unanimously last Thursday night to ask the district’s voters to approve a bond issue for $29,855,000 to build a new school and create a career and technology center.

The election will be held on Saturday, May 7 in conjunction with school board and city council elections.

The biggest piece of the bond would be $19.5 million for a new primary campus to be constructed on district land on Loop 564 east of Hwy. 37. It would house Head Start students up through the third grade

Another $4-plus million would go to convert the current elementary school into a Career and Technical Education (CTE) center to serve the adjacent high school. 

The rest of the bond would include a new auto mechanics shop, upgrades to other CTE program facilities, canopy upgrades and the associated soft costs and contingencies for construction.

Funding the bond would increase the district’s property tax rate from 96 cents to $1.20 per $100 valuation.

Before approving the election order, which had a Feb. 18 deadline to make it onto the May 7 ballot, the board discussed whether the new school would be able to hook onto city of Mineola sewer.

Architect Perry Thompson said the initial plans include a septic system.

Superintendent Cody Mize said the district will need to have a conversation with the city about hooking onto nearby sewer lines and the possibility of annexing the property into the city. Some of the 126-acre tract is already in the city limits.