Whitesboro ISD held an informational Town Hall meeting Monday night at 5 p.m. to discuss a $118 million bond package that will appear on voting ballots this spring. (Early voting begins April 22; Election Day is May 4).
In a presentation made in the Hayes Primary Cafeteria, Superintendent Ryan Harper began by explaining that over the past several months, a committee of business owners, community members, board members, teachers and parents met four times to discuss what the community envisioned for the school system going forward.
Today, three out of four of Whitesboro campuses are at capacity. The district has had to stop accepting transfer students and has had to come up with creative solutions to reconfigure classrooms and office space within school campuses to ensure there’s enough room for the students who are currently enrolled.
“We’ve turned one classroom into three learning spaces. A bathroom is now an office. Janitor’s closets aren’t closets anymore, they’re classrooms. Every nook and cranny is being used,” Harper said.
In studying research and projections, the Bond Facility Planning Committee agreed that growth is imminent. The district currently has around 1,778 students. By 2030, WISD is expecting 2,000 students enrolled in its schools.
“This bond isn’t encouraging people to move here,” Harper said. “We all value a small town just like everyone else. But the truth is, we’re running out of room.”
While the initial plan was to build a new high school, the expected cost for the project came back at around $140 million for a single building, so the committee went back to the drawing board. They came up with a plan that helps to create absorption and allows the district to disburse grade levels across more campuses to alleviate the strain on space, staff and resources.
Harper led the audience through a detailed explanation of the bond package, which consists of two propositions.
Proposition A ($100 million) would include the following:
Early Childhood Center
This 26-classroom school would serve Pre-K through first grade. This means the current Hayes Primary School would serve second and third grades and the Intermediate School would serve fourth and fifth grades.
High School Auditorium
This regulation-size building would house One Act Play performances, performing arts concerts and practices, and Primary- and Intermediate-level class musicals.
High School Career Technology Addition
Four bays would allow students to work on continuing education classes to help develop skills needed to enter the job force after graduation.
Agri-Science Arena
This building would include 200 bays for animals and educational opportunities.
District Renovations/Buses/Safety and Security
This would provide new security cameras for campuses, increase in ISD police staff, installation of panic systems and additions to the fleet of school buses.
The tax increase for residents would be an additional 12.3 cents per $100 valuation.
Proposition B ($18 million) is for a multi-purpose building for all students, from band and athletics to Special Olympics and field days. By law, this proposition must stand on its own. The tax increase for this proposition would be an additional 5.8 cents per $100 valuation.
The district is currently using seven portable buildings across the primary and intermediate schools. Each of these buildings, purchased used, cost at least $100,000.
“If the bond doesn’t pass, we’ll continue to add portable buildings. But that’s basically just putting a Band-Aid on the problem,” Harper said.
After his presentation of facts and figures, audience members were invited to ask questions. Some wondered about staffing concerns. According to Harper, for the most part, this plan would allow the district to move existing staff rather than have to hire several new teachers.
Others wondered whether renderings were available so community members could see the vision. Harper explained that to order drawings, the district would have to pay significant up-front costs. It didn’t seem fiscally responsible to spend the money without a guarantee that the bond would pass.
For those wondering about the timeline for this project, if the bond were to pass, it would take a year to design the additions and renovations. Then, it would take anywhere from eighteen months to two years to build with the goal for all of the projects to be built simultaneously.
While the Town Hall meeting only attracted around 35 people (many of whom were teachers or school administrators), more than 200 commenters took to social media to share opinions, questions and concerns. These ranged from the use of local contractors (“Local contractors were invited to submit a bid just like everyone else,” Harper said at the meeting) to worries about higher taxes (“There will be no tax rate impact for voters 65 and older who qualify for the homestead exemption,” Harper said at the meeting).
To learn more about the WISD bond package, visit www.whitesboroisdbond.com. The next bond Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 17 from 5-6 p.m. at the Hayes Primary School cafeteria.