Time to choose

Bond issue includes new elementary, transportation facility, technology and upgrades

Published Sunday, April 27, 2008

By Chris Butler

Voters in Decatur will have a choice May 10 - either vote in favor of a $27.9 million bond that would pay for a new elementary school and other needed items or watch the two current elementary schools expand beyond capacity.

Superintendent Gary Gindt said before the board called for the election that the school district will be "in deep trouble" if the bond doesn't pass.

DISD officials say the number of students throughout the district is increasing, and a new elementary school is needed to give them space to learn. Decatur's high school and middle school, meanwhile, have plenty of room to hold more students, Gindt said in February. The district formed a committee last year to determine how to handle the growing number of students, and that committee recommended building a new elementary school as well as taking care of other needed improvements.

The owner of a $125,000 home will pay approximately $6.42 more a month in property taxes if voters approve the bond. A homeowner whose home is valued at $175,000 might pay an additional $112 in property taxes for the year. A business owner whose property is valued at $2.5 million would pay an additional $1,750 in property taxes, according to Jim Brooks, a Dallas-based accountant.

The school bond wouldn't affect senior citizens' homestead taxes. Their tax bill "acquired a ceiling" when they received their over 65 homestead exemption and "will never go higher," said Mickey Hand, the chief appraiser at the county's appraisal district in a letter sent to senior citizens this week.

There are no guarantees that the bond will pass - money from the previous bond election paid to build the new high school, but bond elections before that failed. School board members said in February that now, not later, is the best time for voters to approve the bond because of low interest rates and the fact that construction costs will continue to rise.

The bond would only pay for what the district considers priorities, Gindt said in February. The board decided not to use the bond money to pay for an indoor sports practice facility at the high school, for instance, because it isn't an urgent need. The district cannot use the money to pay for teacher salaries or day-to-day operating expenses.

What would the bond pay for?

If passed the bond would pay for the following:

- A new elementary school that would hold pre-kindergarten students through fifth-graders. Decatur's two existing elementary schools, Rann and Carson, currently hold pre-K to fourth-graders but would expand to hold fifth-graders if voters approve the bond. Decatur Intermediate School would become a campus for sixth-graders only. The new elementary school would open three years after Decatur residents vote in favor of the bond because of the time required to buy land and construct the two buildings, Gindt said.

- Land for the elementary school. The district currently has no land for future school sites, but board members said at a meeting last month that land prices are expected to increase over time.

"We do not own any land at this point for the site for the new school. We hope we can buy the land south of the city or southwest of the city because that's the ideal place to build a new elementary, but it's hard to say for certain where we will build it," Gindt said.

- A new transportation facility. Members of last year's facilities committee also suggested the district pay for a new transportation facility at another site because the current one is too small to hold the district's 30 school buses. The current transportation building would then be demolished, and the site would become a parking lot for Eagle Stadium. The new transportation facility would also open three years after Decatur residents vote in favor of the bond, Gindt said.

- New technology. DISD officials would use money from the bond to purchase new technology for schools and improve security at its campuses. The district currently raises money to fund technology through a maintenance and operations budget, but state law requires the district to send about a fourth of that money to Austin. The district would be allowed to keep all of the money from the bond.

- Maintenance and renovations for existing facilities. Some of the buildings in the district need roof repairs, while others have boilers that need replacing. Other buildings are in need of cosmetic repairs and need carpet. The board wants some of the renovation money to create science classrooms for the fifth-graders who would move to Rann and Carson. Some of the money would pay to upgrade heating and air conditioning equipment.