Election date: April 13
Prop. 1: $120.5 million for renovations for all 96 campuses.
Prop. 2: $176.9 million for construction of eight elementary schools, two
middle schools, and one high school; also for the construction of over 150
classroom additions.
Prop. 3: $72 million for safety and security equipment, technology
infrastructure, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, and land
acquisition.
Managed properly, this bond package will:
* Touch every campus and enact what AISD Superintendent Jim Fox repeatedly
refers to as “functional equity” for every child;
* Lay the groundwork for a more homogeneous district, in terms of academics —
parents and other stakeholders should expect to receive the same instructional
quality in all campuses;
* Get the district ready for technology-based inst-ruction, which helps to
promote more self-directed
learning and keep children engaged and interested;
* Keep the technology current and relevant by leasing, rather than buying,
computers — paid for with a 2cents tax increase in the maintenance and
operation tax rate in year two of the bond issue;
* Dedicate an emergency fund of about $15 million for unexpected surprises that
may crop up during renovations of elementary schools;
* Renew and preserve older, central-city campuses — $20 million more than a
citizens’ bond advisory committee had recommended last summer for updating and
renovating AISD’s 15 middle schools;
* Restructure $69 million in current outstanding debt;
* Impact the tax rate only half as much as originally projected — 1cents tax
increase every year for three years, based on three bond sales. Even owners of
typically priced homes in the most expensive neighborhoods would see a tax
increase of less than $9 per month. Residents 65 and older would see no tax
increase.
The bond package won’t:
* Bring AISD’s educational specifications (e.g., square footages, etc.) up to
national standards;
* Knock down any old schools;
* Retire the district’s 500 portable buildings;
* Guarantee that the suburban exodus to Southwest Austin will come a halt;
* Lay any claims to reintegration. — R.A.
This article appears in February 23 • 1996 and February 23 • 1996 (Cover).