The Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce hosted “Coffee with Dr. Hockenberry: a conversation about the 2026 Lufkin ISD bond” Tuesday morning in the Chamber’s community room. The event gave the community a chance to ask LISD Superintendent James Hockenberry questions about the upcoming bond election.

Lufkin ISD voters will head to the polls May 2 to consider two bond propositions. Proposition A includes a Lufkin High School main building renovation, agricultural science barn construction, career technical education building additions, school bus purchases and districtwide elementary campus safety upgrades, including the removal of portable buildings.

Proposition B would replace Abe Martin Stadium with a new stadium suitable for football, track and field, soccer and marching band competitions. The bonds’ price tags are $98.25 million and $42 million, respectively.

Hockenberry fielded questions to clear up any confusion and increase the community’s understanding of the district’s May bond election.

An informative handout that was passed out to those in attendance will be put in the mailbox of every LISD voter this week, Hockenberry said, and the district is putting as much information as possible on its website so community members may be as informed as possible. The website includes an 11-minute video overview of what the two bond proposals will cover.

LISD hosted an open house at Lufkin High School Monday evening and plans to host another one a week later at 5:30 p.m. to enable community members to see firsthand the issues in the campus’ main building and stadium.

The district is looking at removing portable buildings across Lufkin elementary school campuses. The most challenging one, Hockenberry said, will be the Dunbar Primary campus, but realigning all elementary and primary schools to a kindergarten through fifth grade model by the 2027-28 school year will free up space.

Hockenberry expects regular maintenance costs to decrease if Prop A passes and district facilities are thereby modernized, he said.

Three million dollars from Prop A will be dedicated to LISD’s purchase of 16 new school buses, Hockenberry said. State law says all buses must be seat belt-equipped by 2029, and the district is striving for its whole fleet to fulfill that requirement.

Hockenberry was asked whether the district has a backup plan in case the bonds do not pass, to which he replied LISD will have to carefully evaluate its options. The state, he said, is supposed to provide safety funding for districts, but he would not count on that, so he said LISD may have to move funds from fund balances.

“Our safety and security cannot be compromised, so regardless of what happens, we have to address safety and security every day as things change, as circumstances dictate the things that we must do,” he said. “There is no backup plan for large-scale construction because that money does not exist. And the only way we can access money for large-scale construction is a bond election.”

The entire project’s timeline will be roughly three years from start to finish, Hockenberry hopes, and the district would have to relocate stadium events if Prop B passes. Abe Martin Stadium would close following the 2026 football regular season and its artificial turf would be moved to the Lufkin Middle School stadium.

“We hope to enter into an agreement with SFA to play home football games at SFA’s location. We are in conversation, but there is no agreement yet in place, and we wouldn’t have one anyway until the passage,” Hockenberry said.

The district has no plans at this time to sell naming rights to the stadium, the superintendent said, but would entertain that possibility if approached. He said the economy’s current state makes it too risky to sell bonds at variable rates, but deputy superintendent Jill Gaston said LISD could refinance them.

“We would take advantage of every opportunity to save money,” Hockenberry said.

The balance and rates from the most recent (2018) bond series can be found on a dashboard on the district’s website, Hockenberry said.

“When you start talking about a school district, it’s more than buildings,” Hockenberry said, “and I don’t want to lose sight of that.”

The superintendent said the bond represents just part of LISD’s story, which is now about reshaping and reimagining the district to be more innovative.

He emphasized the importance of families’ choices on the district’s future and said parents’ input has led to the creation of an elementary school dedicated to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), which is set to launch at Brookhollow Elementary in August. Parents surveyed also supported a fine arts academy and a polytechnic STEM middle school, he said.

“Not even two years ago, I stood before a large group and spelled out everything where things stood, what happened, what we were doing about it, and how we were going to right-size the district and get back on stable ground,” Hockenberry said. “We’re on stable ground, but stable ground will become quickly unstable if you don’t continue to reinvent yourself.”

Finally, LISD was one of just two districts statewide admitted to the Texas Education Agency’s System of Great Schools last year, a feat Hockenberry said enables the district and its teachers access to additional training and grants. For example, the district is receiving a $2 million grant for the STEM elementary school.

Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce president Tara Watson-Watkins said a new stadium will bring more tourism into the community, and therefore more money spent at stores, restaurants and hotels as people’s children play football and soccer and run track.

“This is so much bigger than just building a stadium for kids to be in on Friday nights,” she said.

LISD’s last bond was eight years ago, so passing this year’s bond issues could free up district funds to provide raises for teachers, Watson-Watkins said. She encouraged community members to follow the “Vote Yes for Lufkin ISD Kids” political action committee Facebook page.

In closing, Hockenberry encouraged voters to peruse the bond website, lufkinisd.org/bond, and watch its one- and two-minute videos that tell what he described as a “good, sharp, concise story.”

“This school district belongs to you. It’s your kids, your money, your school,” Hockenberry said.

The superintendent said LISD is giving voters information to make a decision. The district’s job is to inform the voters, and the voters’ job is to decide what to do with that information, he said.

Hockenberry said he will be OK with whatever the voters decide, but he wants them to know the district will take care of its schools, students and taxpayers’ money. Whatever the outcome, LISD will continue striving to take care of its own, he said.

“Don’t ever forget that this school district belongs to you. We’re just stewards of it for the moment,” Hockenberry said. “So we’re going to do whatever you ask of us and we’re here to help and create whatever you want. Thank you for being here.”