BULLARD, Texas — East Texas is booming, and the growth is evident in Bullard.
"You drive around Bullard ISD, drive through the city, drive outside of the city - just in the school district zones - and you will find houses being built everywhere," Dr. Jack Lee said.
He's the Superintendent of Bullard ISD, and he is tasked with navigating that growth.
"Between 2014 and 2019, that five year period, the school district saw an increase of 213 students...and then between last year, and this year, we saw an increase of 126 students," he said.
It's a nearly 300 percent jump, from an average of 43 new students a year, to 126.
The surge in enrollment is leading Bullard ISD to plan ahead. The district partnered with a demographer group to help them prepare for the future, and what they found was staggering.
"They are projecting for Bullard ISD...to have an increase of about 2800 homes over the next seven to eight years," Dr. Jack Lee said.
The district expects around 3,800 students seven to eight years from now, which is an increase of about 1,000 students. The Brook Hill school, a private school in Bullard, is seeing significant growth too. The doors were opened in 1997 with 31 students, and in 2005, "we were 157 kids in grades six through 12," Rod Fletcher, Head of School said.
The school has grown to 760 students. "It's up 100 kids from last year," Fletcher said. It's also a diverse student body, representing Bullard, East Texas, and 30 different countries around the world.
Both educators agree that planning for the future is a double-edged sword. It's a balance between managing growth, while making the experience better for students.
"Everything we're building is to give the current kids current programs, a better space," Fletcher said.
Dr. Lee's focus for Bullard ISD is "about building relationships, inspiring learning, serving our community, developing character...those are the core tenets of who we are as a district," he said.
All while partnering with a city that's growing by leaps and bounds.
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