By KIM ESTES
Four Points News
Of 500 registered Leander ISD voters, 43 percent told surveyors they would support a $454 million bond if school officials put the matter up for a vote in November, said Rice University professor, Robert Stein, reporting results of a community survey to trustees meeting last Thursday.
Thirty-nine percent said they were undecided on the matter, while 18 percent stated that they would vote against it, Stein added.
LISD trustees are considering the bond proposal that supporters said would accommodate growth, improve safety and provide major facility maintenance throughout the district. Officials must decide no later than Aug. 21 whether or not to call for the referendum for it to be on the fall general election ballot.
A Citizens Bond Advisory Committee — formed earlier this year to develop a three to five-year facility plan to meet district needs — recommended the proposal.
As for the community survey, the goal was to gauge interest in certain bond issues, said Dan Troxell, LISD superintendent.
Under Stein’s direction, Consumer Research International of San Marcos conducted 500 live telephone interviews between June 25 and July 6. The error rate for the survey was +/- 4.5 percent.
In addition to questions about a $454 million bond, surveyors asked responders about optional items which would total a $480 million bond.
Corey Ryan, LISD communications director, said, “The board wanted to collect more community input regarding the Bond Advisory Committee’s recommendation, including the optional items and projects for artificial turf at various athletic complexes. This second option equaled $480 million of projects: the $454 million BAC recommendation, $9.8 million for Career Technical Education (CTE) facilities at Glenn, Leander, Vandegrift and Vista Ridge high schools and $16 million for turf projects.”
Stein reported that 40 percent of voters would still support a larger proposal, but 28 percent were against it and 31 percent were undecided. A quarter of those uncertain about the $454 million bond were opposed to the $480 million bond, Stein said.
“I don’t know why more are against the $480 million bond. My speculation is it is the athletic fields,” Stein said.
The bond steering committee’s job is to present to the board a bond package within very few parameters that the administration and board have set. The board may add, delete or do a little of both, and that is the bond package the LISD board will present in a bond election, said Pam Waggoner, LISD board president.
“We are not recommending building a new stadium, but we do recognize the need to expand Monroe stadium because it is a 6A high school now. The infrastructure already exists; we just need to add the bleachers.”
“We also have talked about adding a few turf fields around the district for selected middle schools that receive year-round use including community youth sports. Maybe three fields total,” Waggoner said.
Based on open-ended questions that were part of the survey, Stein and his assistant, Elizabeth Vann, made some conclusions including that voters are concerned about increasing student enrollment and the need for more schools, and they want to continue to attract, support and keep good teachers and maintain high educational standards. They also recognize that new schools and renovations could reduce maintenance and repair costs on older facilities.
Voters do not want “fancy” facilities nor do they support new athletic facilities or programs, the survey team concluded.
Bond proposal recap
The $454 million bond proposed by the advisory committee provides $172,536,655 for elementary schools, $117,525,385 for middle schools, $87,175,801 for high schools, $47,730,000 for technology and $28,893,000 for ancillary requests.
It includes major maintenance to the 20-year-old Steiner Ranch Elementary campus. The projected cost is $17.8 million to be shared with Giddens Elementary for similar work there.
The bond would also provide $3 million for design and mitigation costs for a secondary access road to Four Points Middle School and Vandegrift High School, $29.5 million for additions and renovations to accommodate student growth at VHS and $1.1 million to expand Monroe Stadium grandstands.
Elsewhere in the district, the $454 million proposal would permit the design, construction and furnishing of three new elementary schools as well as just the design of a fourth one at a total of $123.3 million.
Also, it would provide for the design, construction and furnishing of a new middle school at the cost of $63.4 million and land purchases for a future high school, middle school and seven elementary schools for $61.9 million.
Finally, there are recommendations for the construction of secure vestibules at all LISD high schools and middle schools at a total expense of $17.6 million.