The Decatur School Board Monday will consider calling a May bond election which could include the construction of a new middle school.
This past Monday, the board received an official recommendation from the district’s bond planning committee for a $137 million total bond package to address needs identified in the district’s long range facility plan.
The largest portion of the proposed bond, $100 million, would be dedicated to building a new McCarroll Middle School.
Brett Sumrow with the architecture and design firm Corgan, who facilitated the committee meetings and delivered the committee’s recommendation to the school board, explained that the proposal evolved as more information was received from the community, including the community survey.
“I’m extremely happy with this recommendation. I think it checks all of the boxes. Is it perfect? It’s not perfect. I don’t think we were ever going to get to a perfect solution. But for those things that were identified in that long range plan as those guiding principles, I think this checks as many of those boxes as possible. $100 million is a lot of money, but when you consider what this is and what it takes, what construction costs, it’s pretty economical, because we could have done this for $130 million,” Sumrow said, referring to a more costly middle school option that was considered by the committee before it was eliminated.
The proposal suggests building the new middle school just east of the current facility and connecting with the existing multipurpose building (MPB). The proposal would also create a connector hallway between the MPB and the STEM Academy at Enis Elementary, allowing the elementary school to have a dedicated cafetorium for lunch and events like other elementary campuses in the district.
The overall bond recommendation also includes money for career and technical education (CTE), transportation, technology, safety and security projects and district-wide facility needs.
The bond as currently proposed would increase the debt portion of the tax rate by 2.2 cents. With the average home value of $400,000 in the district, that would represent a $4.77 monthly increase in the tax bill, or $57.20 annually.
The school board will meet at 5 p.m. Monday with a closed session followed by the open session at 6 p.m. Anyone wishing to make public comments on the proposed bond or other agenda items must sign up between 5:30 and 5:55 p.m. The meeting will take place at the DISD Administration Building, 307 S. Cates St.
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