The item was on the agenda for discussion only. Board members were provided with a memo from district staffers stating they saw advantages to pursuing a bond in 2019.
A top advantage was the ability to use a grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to replace 16 buses at 55 percent of the usual price, resulting in $800,000 in cost savings.
The buses need to be purchased by the end of the 2019 calendar cycle in order to use the grant and get the savings, a report by Chief Operations Officer Jeremy Trimble said. If the district decided to use a 2020 bond to replace the buses, it would have to pay full price.
Technology support staff is another area that would benefit from a 2019 bond, according to Trimble's report. The district pays partial salaries—about $90,000 annually—for personnel to support the 1:1 student device program. Current funding is provided through the 2011 bond program, and those funds will be exhausted after the 2018-19 school year, even though the need for the personnel will continue, the report said.
Finally, district staff provided the board with a list of facility needs for various campuses, including roofing, plumbing, painting and waterproofing. Facility items pertaining to technology, safety, transportation, performing arts and fine arts were also included on the list.
Board discussion at the March 27 meeting
Superintendent Tom Leonard brought up the idea of making the 2019 bond a "maintenance and enhance" bond and not using it to do any major projects. He said the district could do a smaller bond now with the intention of doing a much larger one in 2023 or 2024.
"That would give us a lot of time to do a big revisioning," he said.
Trustee President Colleen Jones said it made sense to move forward with a 2019 bond and get some critical things—particularly safety and security measures—done sooner rather than later.
Vice President Jennifer Sales said she was also in favor of moving forward with a 2019 bond and wanted to bump the safety component up to a priority item. Secretary Christie Bybee and trustees Jason Paull and John Havenstrite all agreed with the idea of pursuing a 2019 bond.
Trustee Julia Webber echoed Leonard's idea of exploring "a very minimal bond in 2019" with the intention of a larger one later, as did trustee Ellen Balthazar.
"I would support a 2019 bond," Balthazar said. "But I would prefer to see it truly modest so we save as much capacity as possible."
Balthazar noted 2022 will be the district's 150th anniversary.
"I think that's a really good time for our community to say, 'What has driven us all this time and where do we go for the next 150 years?'" she said, adding the district should wait to do a larger bond with bigger projects.
Leonard concluded the discussion by saying it seemed that everyone was in agreement to start the conversation for a 2019 bond, although there was still much discussion to be had on an exact bond amount and top priorities.
