By Dane Anderson, Staff Writer

A new elementary school for the Eanes school district west of Loop 360 is just one idea being tossed into the soup for possible consideration in the next bond election, said Eanes Superintendent Nola Wellman. 

Wellman said the district master plan is the document that drives administrators for the next 10 to 15 years, and that plan also fuels bond needs and wish lists.

The preliminary discussion documents for a possible 2011 bond election were given to board members in a study session last week; the list included the mention of a new elementary school.

“The master plan is the board’s vision from the top down,” Wellman said. “These are only possibilities at this point. The board will set more and more direction as we go through the master planning process.”

Wellman said the decision to build a new school will be made upon economics and the cost to operate existing facilities. Does it make more sense to continue to upgrade and maintain existing, aging facilities or simply build a new facility? 

“It’s a process of looking at energy, maintenance cost and the life span of building materials,” she said. “We have a bond team looking at those items right now.”

The idea of building any new elementary school west of Loop 360 is driven by the traffic parents and bus drivers experience getting students to and from district campuses each school day. 

“We have kids coming from far western regions in to elementary schools,” Wellman said. “That results in fuel costs and pollution.”

Right now, the items identified for bond consideration make up a monster list of possibilities, Wellman pointed out.

“As a staff, we continue to work on this list,” she said. “We have certain things that we really need, things like air conditioning upgrades and roofing. There are also a whole lot of items on there that depend on what direction the board wants to go.”

The board will get a chance to provide more direction on May 11, the date set for the next bond discussion session. 

“It’s a process that is painful,” Wellman said. “You’re trying to read the future, and that’s hard to do.”