The Quitman ISD bond, which passed for $30.85 million, is coming to visible fruition: the school did a project-wide groundbreaking on Tuesday, March 17.

The project has been officially in the works since May 2025, when voters passed the bond. However, foundational work began much earlier, with a multi-step process that included the school bringing on a committee of community members to outline the school’s most dire needs.

The bond allows for several updates, renovations and constructions for the school: these include a new 20,000 sq. ft. Career and Technology Education (CTE) center, classroom additions at the elementary and junior high schools, an athletic field house addition, locker room renovations and a new baseball field.

School Superintendent Chris Mason said that the next step is to bring surveyors to mark the land.

“We will see dirt getting moved,” he said, around the beginning of April. Mason estimates that most of the bond projects will take 10-18 months to complete, with projects like the baseball field or the locker room renovations potentially complete by the end of summer 2026. All of the bond projects, Mason said, should be completed by summer of 2027.

“Once they move dirt, it’ll get really going,” said Mason. “We’re really excited.”