Latest update: October 2026
Bond 2026:
Our Community's Investment.
Our Students' Future.
In May 2026, Burnet CISD voters approved a $135 million bond program to improve school facilities, safety, transportation, and student technology across the district. Bond at Work shows the community how voter-approved funds are being used, including what has been accomplished, what is underway, and what is coming next.
Program Update: Construction Manager on Board
On August 24, 2026 the Board of Trustees approved American Constructors as the construction manager for the Burnet Middle School and R.J. Richey Elementary bond projects. American Constructors brings nearly 45 years of Texas school-building experience and joins the team now, during design, to help manage costs, identify risks early, and keep the schedule on track.
what is pre-design?
Pre-design is where a new school starts, before a single wall is drawn. The project team studies the site and the existing buildings, then works with the district to determine what each campus needs to support how students learn and teachers teach. It is the foundation everything else gets built on.
Burnet Middle School
2026 Bond: Proposition A
Current phase: Pre-Design Completed
Picture a campus built for about 900 students today, with room to grow to 1,200, refreshed fine arts and athletics spaces, and a new commercial kitchen that will serve breakfast and lunch to every student, every day.
Over the past two months, the project team has met with a district design committee to shape a school built around how students learn and teachers teach, including how the building can flex for different learning styles and how spaces such as the library, cafeteria, and fine arts areas can serve more than one purpose, supporting class time, after-school life, and everything in between.
Recent progress:
Site surveys are complete, and the existing buildings have been scanned into 3D digital models, giving the design team an exact, data-rich starting point.
The three pre-design workshops were held in August, September and October 2026, setting goals for the new school and shaping how classrooms and other spaces should come together.
A staff and a student survey were completed. The people who use the building every day will have a hand in shaping it.
What is coming next?
Staff and student surveys will wrap up in October 2026.
The Schematic Design phase will start in mid October 2026. Schematic design is the phase after pre-design, where the team turns pre-design goals into a first design concept, including preliminary site and floor plans, early building elevations, and a cost estimate checked against the budget, still loose and subject to change before moving into more detailed drawings.
R.J. Richey Elementary School
2026 Bond: Proposition A
Current phase: Pre-Design
RJ Richey is getting new classrooms, dedicated art and music rooms, and a transformed interior gym, converted into a cafetorium (a combined cafeteria and auditorium) and kitchen. Special education spaces and how students move through the building are also receiving attention.
Recent progress:
The existing campus was scanned into 3D digital models in September 2026.
All three Pre Design workshops have been scheduled.
What is coming next?
Pre-design work began in October 2026, with the first workshop expected in November. That workshop will set goals and guiding principals for the campus improvements.
Questions about the bond program?
Contact us here or call us at (512) 756-2124