Texas · K-12 bond cycle 2024/2026

Texas ISD facilities directors: align your IFA or VATRE bond draw to TEA Facility Standards before plan check — and keep the audit trail clean through occupancy.

Three windows run on the same project: the 2024 Instructional Facilities Allotment issuance window, the 2026 VATRE + bond-planning window, and TAC §61 review on the day students move in. None of them has relaxed. Read the cadence framework in the ADA Title II bond-cycle post.

Request a compliance review Read the bond-cycle post See the three tiers →

TAC §61

TEA Facility Standards

Accessibility

Bond cycle 2024/2026

Three-window cadence

TX · ACTIVE

TEA Facility Standards revision: Active cycle
IFA / VATRE drawdown: 2024–2028
Accessibility review: At occupancy

Indicative — calibrated district-by-district after the first conversation.

Why Texas now

TEA Facility Standards + the 2024/2026 bond windows.

The standards, scope, and timing are already on the docket — three cards grounded in the Texas state-level research so the next call starts from the same numbers.

01Program size

$4.0B

Active IFA + Voter-Approval Tax-Rate Election (VATRE) K-12 bond issuance on the Texas docket for the 2024/2026 windows.

Direct, dollar-denominated funding for public K-12 modernization and new construction — capital-project dollars governed by the Texas Education Agency Facility Standards that require a documented compliance trail from design through occupancy.

02Eligibility

ISDs · charters · match

Texas ISDs and qualifying open-enrollment charters. IFA provides state match; VATRE-authorized local bonds are the district contribution.

Programs are sized by district wealth tier and project type. Renovation, addition, and new-build scopes are all fundable, with the same TEA Facility Standards review expectation at occupancy.

03Timing

2024 IFA · 2026 cycle

The 2024 IFA issuance window is drawing down now. The 2026 VATRE + bond-planning window is opening district-by-district.

Districts moving now are scoping, schematic-designing, and bidding against a 2024–2028 drawdown. The audit trail written today is the one read at TEA review and at occupancy.

Bond-fundedThe drift agent is built for project documentation that holds up to a TEA Facility Standards review from first schematic through decades of operation after occupancy.

Who this serves in Texas

Three audiences we build for in TX.

Same three audiences the practice serves nationally — restated for districts and founders operating inside the Texas 2024/2026 K-12 IFA + VATRE bond window.

Public Districts

Texas ISDs running an IFA-supported renovation or new-build, or a district that has just cleared a VATRE 2026 bond election. The compliance + drift agents keep the TEA Facility Standards documentation trail clean from first schematic to occupancy.

Charter and Private Special-Needs Schools

Open-enrollment charters standing up new Texas campuses or upgrading existing facilities to hold up to TEA Facility Standards review and ADA Title II scrutiny on bond-funded scope.

Developer-Founders

Opening Texas developmental learning centers who need a licensed architect fluent in TEA Facility Standards, autism-friendly design, and neurodiversity-affirming sensory loads from day one.

Top objections

What we hear from Texas districts.

Four objections from the 2024 IFA intake cycle, with the rebuttal in the same line of sight as the concern.

IFA bond proceeds already include PSA fees for compliance — we do not need a separate architect of record.: IFA covers Program of Achievement scoring and consultant builds at the agency level. Site-specific TEA Facility Standards review — the audit that runs the day students move in — is its own scope, and it does not survive without an architect of record holding the documentation trail.
Our small district does not have a full-time facilities director. We do not know what we are missing.: That is exactly the shape of district the compliance agent is calibrated for. The agent surfaces the gap in TEA Facility Standards and ADA Title II scoring on every revision, in the language a part-time facilities director can act on — without hiring a full-time review team.
We have already designed past TEA Facility Standards once. We know what to expect.: TEA Facility Standards revisions are dated to the active cycle, and TAC §61.1036 review thresholds update alongside them. The drift agent keeps the previously-passing design current against the active standard, so the same design clears again at each new issuance round.
TEA Facility Standards are voluntary for charters. Why would we commit to them?: TEA Facility Standards are adopted by reference for any facility receiving public funds or operating under an open-enrollment charter exemption. Holding the standard voluntary-in-name is a single mis-step away from a state review triggered by a parent complaint.

Questions

Asked most by Texas districts.

The full list lives in the FAQ — these are the four we answer most often in TX.

Open the FAQ

Texas · TX

Compliance review

Request a compliance review.

State pre-filled to Texas. The practice replies personally within two business days with a one-page proposal — scope, fee band, and timeline — and a calendar invite.