Dallas ISD is considering a $6 billion bond package for a 2026 ballot that would include plans to build housing for teachers.
While details are being finalized, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde told The Dallas Morning News the district is discussing whether to ask voters to support bonds that would help replace 29 schools, renovate facilities, bolster school equipment and provide housing for district teachers.
The district is tentatively planning to give the school board an update on the proposals in November, followed by the district’s full bond proposal list recommendation in December, Elizalde said.
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The board would tell the district in February which bonds should appear on the ballot in May or November 2026, she said.
School districts in Texas receive funding for students, operations and maintenance, so bonds are the only way to fund new buildings, renovations and infrastructure improvements, Elizalde said.
For Dallas ISD, this means addressing the district’s aging buildings, she said.
This proposal could also give Dallas ISD a new strategy for teacher retention, because housing is a significant barrier for educators, Elizalde said.
“Some of the main reasons why people may not want to teach in certain school districts are just housing costs. They’re just so high,” she said.
Housing assistance
Families of students that attend Obadiah Knight Elementary respond to survey questions on their phones during a bond proposal meeting at Onesimo Hernandez Elementary School, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Providing housing assistance to teachers is an effective strategy for attracting educators to school districts as housing costs continue to outpace salaries, according to a report from the National Education Association.
In California, the Los Angeles Unified School District works with affordable housing developers to build housing and give leasing priority to district employees.
In Texas, Austin ISD’s public facility corporation is trying to buy land to create 500 affordable units for teachers and staff, according to the Austin American-Stateman.
District leaders spent about $19 million in Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD, based in Reeves County in West Texas, to build a 64-unit teacher housing complex, according to KXAN News in Austin.
The average teacher in Texas is earning $63,749, compared to a national average of $74,177, according to the Texas State Teachers Association.
D-FW, one of the country’s largest housing markets, saw median home values hit $389,500, and nearly 43% of renters in D-FW spent 35% or more of their income on housing, according to recent U.S. Census estimates.
“To build our workforce, we’ve got to make sure that we can retain our workforce,” said Lynn McBee, workforce development czar for the city of Dallas.
Elizalde said providing housing for teachers is “probably the most popular conversation” they’re having, especially for areas with high teaching vacancies. The district is in the process of discussing how the housing would be built and if it would involve partnerships with companies, she said.
Beyond the $20 million bond request for workforce housing, Elizalde said Dallas ISD’s preliminary bond “wish list” also includes $2.5 billion for facility renovations and over $2 billion for construction to replace 29 schools.
The district is also considering bond funding for facility expansions, transportation and equipment upgrades, as well as sustainable infrastructure investments, she said.
Community meetings
Dallas ISD trustee Joe Carreón speaks to community members during a bond proposal meeting at Onesimo Hernandez Elementary School, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Some district schools have already held community meetings for residents to share input on bonds.
Students, teachers and families met with architects at the Onesimo Hernandez Elementary School building Wednesday to discuss the design of a new Obadiah Knight Elementary School, should the bond be passed.
“I fully support this. The superintendent is really supporting this,” Dallas ISD Board President Joe Carreón told attendees. “We’re not stopping. We’re taking every single step.”
Dallas ISD voters in 2020 had five bond propositions that would have given the school district money for new campuses, technology expansions and resource centers to help families in poor neighborhoods.
Voters supported two bonds, worth over $3.4 billion, for campus repairs and upgrades and to purchase and update district technology.
For the new bonds, Elizalde emphasized the district will carefully prioritize its proposals to ensure students remain the primary focus. Doing so means the district might compromise for roughly $4.5 billion in bonds, she said.
“Part of my role as the superintendent is to make sure that I don’t allow really great ideas to become new missions of an agency,” Elizalde said. “My primary role is to, first and foremost, serve students.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.