Shannon Kim says she can't wait for the battle over Katy ISD's proposed $748 million bond - including a hotly debated 12,000-seat football stadium - to end.

She's tired of the fliers, Facebook posts and road signs trying to win her vote.

"I'm ready for Nov. 4 to come and go," the school volunteer said with a chuckle after a public roundtable Wednesday with Superintendent Alton Frailey.

Kim, who has three boys in school, is among many Katy-area voters feeling buried by a deluge of information about the bond proposal, the largest debt request to appear on any Texas ballot this fall.

Supporters and opponents have formed political action committees, and the district has ramped up its outreach efforts a year after plans for a larger football stadium complex helped sink the last bond measure.

Last November, 54 percent of voters turned down a $100 million facilities bond that included $69 million for a second football stadium for the district, with 16,000 seats, as well as a fieldhouse and expanded parking.

Supporters say they're confident most Katy-area residents support the bond, but they worry about how many will show up to vote. The district has started polling its advisory groups for ideas on how to manage surging enrollment should the bond not pass.

More Information The $748 million bond put forward by Katy Indepdendent School District includes: * $357 million for new facilities, including six new schools. * $135 million for major renovations at six current campuses. * $81 million for activity facilities, including $58 million for a second stadium, fieldhouse and parking project. * $50 million for technology upgrades. * $42 million for small projects at more than 40 schools, like replacing old carpet and updating fire alarms. * $37 million to expand junior highs, high schools, and a career and technology center. * $21 million for buses. * $13 million for safety and security improvments. What's $748 million bond for? The $748 million bond put forward by Katy Independent School District includes: ››$357 million for new facilities, including six new schools. $135 million for major renovations at six current campuses. ››$81 million for activity facilities, including $58 million for a second stadium, fieldhouse and parking project. ››$50 million for technology upgrades. ››$42 million for small projects at more than 40 schools, like replacing old carpet and updating fire alarms. ››$37 million to expand junior highs, high schools, and a career and technology center. ››$21 million for buses. ››$13 million for safety and security improvements.

Read More

"The reality is we're going to have more children show up than we have space for," Frailey said. "Either we shut the borders, which we can't do, we pay for the projects with debt from a bond, or we turn to the general fund. That pool of money covers everything from staff salaries to fixing dying buses. If we have to use that fund, it becomes challenging and you have real tough choices."

Bond opponents say they are fighting against an organized misinformation campaign that is obscuring details of the bond. If most voters had all the facts, they say, they would reject the bond, including the proposal to use $58 million for a scaled-down stadium and fieldhouse.

Fast-growing district

Kelly McCown described the bond proposal as dominated by costly "wants" rather than prudent "needs."

"I'm afraid Katy's going to be like Spring Branch and build all these schools, then shut them all down," said McCown, a Katy High alumnus who saw the last of her four children graduate from the same school in 2008.

Katy ISD is among the fastest-growing districts in the state, adding nearly 3,000 new students a year; its current enrollment is about 67,000. The Houston region's housing boom is driving much of the growth. Of the Texas schools with the largest bond referendums this fall, three of the top four are from suburban Houston districts. In the spring, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the third-largest school district in the state, passed its own $1.2 billion bond to manage growth.

Nearly half of the $748 million bond put forward by Katy leaders would go to build six new schools, including an eighth high school to open in 2017. Other funds would pay for major renovations at six campuses and repairs or expansions at dozens of others. It also includes $58 million for a 12,000-seat stadium, fieldhouse and parking expansion.

District leaders say they're holding off on redesigning the proposed stadium until after the vote, saying they do not want to waste money on designs should the measure fail.

Kim, who moved to Katy in 1998 and chose to enroll her kids in the district after considering private schools, said she thinks most voters have already made up their minds on the bond question. She still has questions but overall thinks it's needed.

"Katy is so special because the classrooms are small," she said. "Without the bond, it's not going to be that special place anymore."

Ed Sarlls opposed previous bond proposals because he thought they were extravagant, but he said he will support this one because of the more inclusive bond committee process. More than 200 people served on the citizens committee that developed the proposal; about 100 were voting members.

"Some will want more and some will want less, or to have the money spent in a different manner," said Sarlls, who volunteered for the committee. "I wanted less for technology, but two-thirds of the committee voted for that. I felt the committee fairly represented the community, so if that's what the community wants, I'll vote for it."

Opponents have lined up against the bond for reasons that have expanded beyond whether the stadium should have been put to a separate vote,

Plenty of opposition

Some suggest the committee was stacked with school employees who stood to gain directly from the bond, but say they cannot prove that because the district has declined to provide them with a count.

Many say they have little faith that district leaders are being honest about the extent of need, noting a spokesman said in January that the soonest a stadium would be included in a bond was 2015. Some yard signs demand the district restore bus services slashed in 2012 before spending money on a stadium. Others say renovations should be paid for out of the existing maintenance fund rather than with new debt.

McCown's family bought a home adjacent to the current football stadium, in part, to be closer to the games. But she fears the addition of a new stadium on the same site will worsen traffic and make noise levels unreasonable, beyond her concerns with the cost of the project.

As treasurer of Put Katy Kids First, McCown is helping President Cyndi Lawrence and others fight the bond with signs and an aggressive, but largely informal, social media campaign.

Lawrence said the PAC, first formed to oppose last year's bond, was revived to counter the organized and well-funded efforts of bond supporters.

The group has raised about $1,000 but has not yet spoken with Accountability First, an Austin-based PAC that made a nearly $4,000 in-kind contribution of mailers and robo­calls last November.

In contrast, the political action committee supporting the bond, One Katy, has raised nearly $120,000 since August, according to a campaign filing submitted Monday. The group has received dozens of individual contributions from area residents, but about 80 percent came from corporate donors, mainly home builders and developers. The largest contribution, $25,000, came from Terrabrook Cinco Ranch Southwest LLC. The the second-largest, $15,000, came from La Centerra at Cinco Ranch LLC.

The pro-bond PAC has spent more than $60,000 so far on advertising and political consulting, likely leaving the other half for a blitz in the days leading up to the vote.

Supporters spending

Additionally, about two dozen bond committee members have been making presentations to area business groups, handing out district-printed fliers, and answering parent questions at district-scheduled school events.

Frailey said when he first spoke to bond committee members earlier this year, he challenged them to advocate for the bond rather than pass off their proposal to the district and walk away.

"Folks know what I'm going to say," Frailey said. "I can quickly be labeled as 'a bureaucrat' or as 'the government' or as 'Obama-in-persona' and be dismissed. You can't do that when you have your neighbor saying, 'I want my child to have these facilities.' "

Angela Anger said the bond is a constant topic of discussion among parents.

Many Katy residents have changed their Facebook profile photos to the logo of one of the PACs, and Anger's two children return home from school every week with informational fliers backing or opposing the bond.

"I wish there was information that was easy to read and not swayed one way or the other," she said.