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A hefty bond package was proposed by the Citizens’ Bond Steering Committee last week with a total price tag of over $485 million — $353 million more than the 2018 Bond Package.
The Citizens' Bond
Steering Committee was formed in May and met in a series of six meetings over the months of June and July. The CBSC took the recommendations made by the Long-Range Facility Planning Committee at the end of February and developed a bond package for consid eration by the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees. That bond package was then presented to the board at its regular meeting on Monday, July 25, at 6 p.m.
The CBSC is made up of 17 stakeholders, including but not limited to, parents of DSISD students of all ages, longtime and newer residents, business owners, and local real estate, finance, and construction professionals.
According to the DSISD website, the CBSC is charged with “developing a bond recommendation for the
DSISD Board of Trustees that is fiscally sound, aligns with the mission and vision of the district, represents the expectations and values of the community, and can be supported by voters. The CBSC represents the community in DSISD’s planning process by re viewing the recommendations of the Long-Range Facility Planning Committee, considering the facility and instructional needs of DSISD, and understanding the financial impacts and funding options available to support our rapidly-growing district.”
The final recommendations presented by the CBSC were determined based on a team consensus-building process, according to committee documents. Items not initially agreed upon were decided via a majority vote.
These recommendations were broken down into four categories: growth projects, lifecycle projects, departmental needs projects and district-wide needs projects. Each category had a price tag of approximately $387 million, $57 million, $3 million and $38 million, respectively. Big ticket items included a second high school at $275 million, a sixth elementary school at $63 million and a modernization of Dripping Springs Middle School at $35 million.
The significant amounts included in the bond package seemed to shock many community members, many of whom asked for a more austere package.
“I firmly believe that a lot of the growth projects listed in the bond are justified and necessary, but I can't reiterate enough that the price tags associated are problematic, “community member Lynn Henson said during the meeting. “I don't believe that I could vote yes if those carried forward to the ballot.”
“The growth in this district is insane, and we need another high school,” she continued. “We need a lot of the things listed, but I also don't think we necessarily need a Taj Mahal.”
Some pointed out the likely recession and ongoing inflation as added reasons for frugality.
“As we head into a possibly severe economic recession where many local residents may face layoffs, salary cuts, shift cuts affecting their income and business owners may face loss of income as consumers tighten their budgets, and as we all are experiencing severe and worsening inflation, and as we all are already paying some of the highest property tax bills in the nation... we are all faced with tightening our budgets, and making tradeoffs between the things we want and the things we really need,” stated Tony Palmeri, a Belterra resident. “The purpose of the school district is to educate our children in a safe environment. Certain expenditures are *essential* to that goal, and some are not.”
Palmeri said the district should be more transparent about what items in the package are truly necessary and asked for a more thorough breakdown of the costs involved in each line item.
“The district facilities team first met with representatives from all campuses and departments to develop the line items that we reviewed,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, chair of the CBSC. “The district facilities team then priced each of the line items and the items were assigned a priority number of one through four by district leadership and administration. So, this was all done before the bond steering committee took a look at it.”
Rodriguez said estimates from that initial list totaled over $654 million.
Still, even board members expressed concern regarding the high dollar amounts.
“My questions or concerns have absolutely nothing to do with the actual package that you've put together; it's more the pricing,” said Trustee Tricia Quintero. “The pricing is a little ridiculous as far as I'm concerned.”
A workshop for bond planning was held by the board of trustees on Wednesday, July 27. The board will need to decide whether or not to call a November 2022 Bond Election by Monday, August 22.
For more information on the CBSC, visit dsisdtx.us/Page/3066.
