Proposed projects include new school buildings, classroom tech and security upgrades
By Silas Allen
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
When Dallas ISD board members meet Thursday to go over details of the district’s bond proposal, they’ll be looking at two options: One that school leaders say would increase property taxes but allow the district to make much-needed upgrades, and another that would keep property taxes the same but would leave much of that work undone.
School districts in Texas receive funds for students, operations and maintenance. Any money for major construction, renovations, land, buses and technology require voter-approved bonds that are repaid with property taxes.
Dallas ISD came up with two options for its next bond after more than 100 members of the Citizen’s Bond Steering Committee voted on proposals based on facility assessments, surveys and months of community feedback.
Whatever version of the bond package board members ultimately choose, district leaders hope to bring the proposal to voters in either May or November. Here’s a look at what Dallas schools would get under each proposal.
$6.2 billion Dallas ISD bond option
The larger proposal totals $6.2 billion, and would carry a tax increase of about $33.48 per year on an average home. The district’s average home value is just over $500,000. The proposal comes in four parts: building and renovation projects, technology upgrades, debt refinancing and renovations on the district’s aging swimming pools.
Proposition A, construction and renovation, represents the largest share of the plan at nearly $6 billion. The district would use that money to build 26 new schools to replace existing campuses, renovate existing buildings to make classrooms more suitable for the programs that use them and make athletic upgrades to its aging multi-purpose rooms, among other projects. It would also add 400 permanent classrooms, allowing the district to remove all 400 of its portable classrooms.
The other three proposals in the package cover smaller-scale priorities. Proposition B would include $144.7 million for handheld student devices. Proposition C, the debt service portion of the package, would allow the district to refinance certain debt. Dallas ISD would then pay that debt off sooner and save $10 million. The proposal totals $143.3 million. Proposition D would include $26.25 million for swimming pool renovations.
$4.9 billion Dallas ISD bond option
The smaller proposal totals $4.9 billion and would keep the district’s property tax rate unchanged. Under that plan, the district would be able to build 24 new schools instead of 26 and wouldn’t be able to remove all portable classroom buildings across the district. It would only be able to make renovations to address facility condition issues, not to modernize classrooms and bring them more in line with schools’ needs. The plan also doesn’t include swimming pool renovations.
During a January 8 board briefing, Brent Alfred, the district’s chief construction officer, told board members that the smaller bond package would allow the district to make repairs and replace outdated technology where campuses need it, but wouldn’t allow it to address bigger issues like classroom square footage and the suitability of each space.
The smaller proposal would still allow the district to make investments in transportation, campus security, student experience and classroom technology — areas that consistently rank highest among priorities in surveys of school staff, parents and the community, Alfred said. The propositions dealing with technology upgrades and debt refinancing would also remain unchanged in the scaled-down plan.
“It would definitely be an improvement over what is currently in our classrooms, but instructional limitations would remain the same,” Alfred said.
David Bates, the district’s chief of operations, said one major difference between the two proposals comes down to making sure programs have a space that’s designed with their needs in mind. For example, most of the district’s middle schools weren’t designed to accommodate a Leadership Cadet Corps program, he said, so those programs are generally housed in a portable classroom, or whatever other space is available.
Likewise, most schools weren’t built with a dedicated dance studio, Bates said. Principals generally give their dance classes the biggest classroom they can make available, he said, but those rooms still don’t have dance equipment such as bars and mirrors.
The larger bond proposal would allow the district to design classrooms around those programs’ needs, rather than giving them an upgraded space that’s still not quite adequate.
A number of board members said during the Jan. 8 board briefing that they preferred the larger package, saying the progress the district could make with that money was worth asking voters to approve a tax increase.
“Nothing is negligible in a high-cost environment,” said board member Byron Sanders. “But when you think about the balance on what we could do for our communities, for our schools, I’m strongly leaning in that direction.”
The Dallas ISD board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Turney W. Leonard Governance and Training Center, 5151 Samuell Blvd., Dallas.
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The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
By Silas Allen
Silas is the K-12 reporter for The Dallas Morning News’ Education Lab. He previously covered Tarrant County schools for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and worked as news editor at the Dallas Observer. Before coming to Texas, he worked as a reporter and editor at The Oklahoman. He is a Missouri native and a graduate of the University of Missouri.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
