The Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees held its first regular meeting of the 2022–2023 school year, covering a lengthy and varied agenda.
The public meeting, held on Monday, Aug. 29, included items such as certified property values, campus improvement plans and board operating procedures for the new academic year. The board also (voted on) the bond election notice for the 2022 Bond Package.
Thanks to a 6-1 vote at a special meeting on Aug. 18, DSISD’s 2022 Bond Package will go on the ballot in November, with an overall price tag of $481.1 million dollars. In discussing the election notice for this particular item, the board took the time to clarify that they had not approved the bond itself, only that it would be up for election later this year.
“There's confusion in the community about the board's decision to call for an election on a bond, and I would like for us to maybe take a moment just to explain that process,” Trustee Olivia Barnard said. “Calling a bond to election is giving the voters the option to vote yes or no on each proposition. What we're doing today is approving essentially… the propositions that will go on the ballot in November.”
“[To] maybe add to the discussion slightly, the board voting to put a bond to a vote is not the board approving of a bond the board has,” Trustee Stefani Reinold echoed. “We do not have the authority to all of a sudden spend taxpayer dollars on a bond or not. The vote at our last meeting was to put it to a vote; this is… basically just content that goes on the ballot.”
The content determined at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting will be used in the public notices for the bond election, which will be placed in newspapers, websites and any additional sharing about the bond election.
“We kind of take it for granted that this is going before the voters,” said Board President Dr. Mary Jane Hetrick. “It’s not just the bond; it's three different propositions that the voters can vote yes or no on.”
These three propositions, referred to as Propositions A, B and C, each come with their own, separate price tags. Proposition A — with a price tag of nearly $200 million — primarily focuses on elementary and middle school improvements, as well as maintenance issues. This includes building a sixth elementary school, designing a seventh elementary school, designing a third middle school and expanding Sycamore Springs Middle School.
Proposition B is intended to fund the construction of a second high school, allocating over $275 million to the endeavor.
Proposition C covers “Technology Lifestyle Replacements,” and is the smallest proposition of the three at approximately $6.5 million.
“Our fiduciary duty does not end if and when this bond continues,” Barnard said. “When we are making decisions on service providers and how a building looks and what niceties are put into a building and how wonderfully we are building our career training education departments… I just think it's important our community understands: this bond is not a blank check; we have the fiduciary duty to make sure that we are building what our students need, our district needs, and are also good stewards of the dollars that we do spend.”
The board approved the bond election notice presented at the meeting with a 5-1 vote.
Residents must be registered to vote in order to be eligible to vote in the bond election. The deadline to register to vote in the November general election is October 11. The first day of early voting in person is Monday, October 24. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail (received in the elections office, not postmarked) is October 28. The last day of early voting in person is November 4. Election day is Tuesday, November 8.
To view the full bond package, visit the DSISD website at dsisdtx.us/ dsisd.
In addition to the bond, the board also approved the adoption of Tax Year 2022 Certified Property Values for Hays and Travis Counties.
Hays Central Appraisal District certified the District’s total net taxable value at $9,991,855,207. Travis Central Appraisal District provided certified values at $17,119,609. In total, net taxable values increased 28% from last year.
The board also addressed and approved campus improvement plans for each of its elementary, middle and high school campuses.
“The Campus Improvement Plans were developed using a collaborative process with the Campus Advisory Council, principals, and district administrators,” board documents stated. “These plans address all elements required by federal law for receipt of Title I, Part A funds, including elements pertaining to parent and family engagement. The campus-level committees involved teachers, parents, and community members in the development of these plans to strategize for the improvement of student academic achievement and campus performance.”
