Longview I.S.D. Looking for Land

LONGVIEW - If you thought getting a 266 million dollar school bond to pass was a difficult task, Longview I.S.D. officials say— try to find the land to put all these new schools.

The land for the two new middle schools has been secured, but everything else is still up in the air. The land for the five new elementary schools has been selected, but it's not owned by Longview I.S.D. yet.

The piney woods of East Texas are something drivers may not even notice, but to officials at Longview I.S.D., these look like a million bucks or two.

"Right now we have spent a little over two million dollars in appropriating land," Eddie Milham from Longview I.S.D. says.

That two million dollars comes out of the 266 million dollars voters agreed to pass to make improvements to Longview I.S.D. schools.

"We have to stay within Longview ISD, that's obvious, but at the same time, finding the larger plots of land has been difficult," Milham explains.

How large do these plots need to be?

For elementary schools there need to be between 18 and 20 acres. For the middle schools, 32 to 36 acres is necessary, and it all has to be in areas where students already live.

"Most of our population is really concentrated right there in those areas," Milham says.

So buying land in those areas costs more because of how rare open land is.

"Location, location, location—drives your cost," Milham says.

But to school officials, the cost is worth it as long as students benefit in the end.

Longview I.S.D. is also under a 40 year de-segregation ruling, so all of their plans and school locations needed to be approved by the Department of Justice, making buying the land even more difficult.