The school board is hosting an election for a bond to expand the high school in the next two years. The board of trustees unanimously voted on August 13th to set the date of the election for November 6th.

“It [is] a great opportunity for our community,” Superintendent Stan Surratt said. “Lindale has a tradition in offering a quality education for all students, and this would allow us to keep doing that, especially at the high school.”

This new bond includes the creation of a cafeteria expansion, an auxiliary gym, a multi-purpose activity center, renovations to Eagle stadium,  security throughout the district and 23 new classrooms.

“The multi-use activity center in particular will be used by more students than any of the other facilities,” Surratt said. “It will be a great facility for many organizations since they can go in there and practice.”

The bond also addresses overcrowding in both the hallways and the cafeteria. This confronts a larger issue since the student body has exceeded the growth that was in mind when the school was originally built.

“We will be widening hallways, which is a weak spot with how much we are growing,” Director of Communications Courtney Sanguinetti said. “It will also add 70 percent more seating space in the cafeteria. The hallways and the cafeteria are a huge concern for not only safety, but it is just too crowded.”

The bond not only affects the school building, but it also has a significant effect on the students within. There will be more space in the classrooms and the hallways, benefiting the students.

“I feel like the bond really keeps the students in mind, and will help us all be more successful in and out of the classroom,” sophomore Zachary Jones said.

The cost of the bond to the voters will be $32.4 million, but the construction for the bond would be 36.4 million dollars. If the bond were to be passed, it would raise the current tax rate of the community by an estimated 4 cents. Each household has a fixed rate to pay based on their home value, so with the additional four cents, the average household in Lindale will only be paying $4.85 more per month in their taxes towards the bond. The school board will be paying the first 4 million for the bond out of current funds to reduce the burden upon the taxpayer.

“We are so fortunate and blessed to be able to do this at a low cost for the community,” Surratt said. “This allows us to have a lot of great additions to the district.”