Bracewell Served as Bond Counsel to Fort Bend ISD in First-of-its-Kind Green Bonds for Capital Projects

HOUSTON – Bracewell LLP served as bond counsel to Fort Bend ISD (District) in connection with the issuance of its $47,505,000 Unlimited Tax Refunding Bonds, Series 2017A (Green Bonds). The bonds financed the environmentally sustainable construction of three new elementary schools in the District, and were the first series of green bonds issued by an independent school district in Texas.  

Following voter approval of a bond package in 2014, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees adopted its Elementary School Education Specifications, which stated that the District’s future elementary schools should be designed to LEED/high-performance standards and seek to obtain LEED certification. The three new elementary schools are expected to open for the upcoming 2017-2018 academic year, and will include environmentally sustainable features aimed at obtaining LEED certifications. 

Bracewell lawyers involved in this transaction included:

Partners: Jonathan K. Frels and Victoria N. Ozimek

Associates: Brian P. Teaff and Sandra Andersson Staine