$775 million package on ballot

Frisco ISD is encouraging voters to weigh in on a $775 million bond package school officials say is necessary to keep pace with continued student population growth.

The bond package would provide enough schools for the 66,000 students expected by 2020.

A district bond committee made the decision to ask for the bond to be passed—and all $775 million at one time—because of the rapid student population growth rate as well as the time it takes to build schools and go through the nine-month process of calling for a bond election, said bond committee co-chairs Buddy Minett and Debbie Pasha.

"Growth is No. 1—Frisco ISD is the fastest-growing school district in the state, if not the country," Minett said. "Five of the 10 fastest-growing neighborhoods in North Texas fall within FISD. When you couple fast growth with the community desire for small campuses, you have to construct schools quickly."

Schools, especially high schools, take years, not months, to plan, construct and be ready to open, Minett and Pasha said. The bond package includes three high schools that amount to about 41 percent of the proposed bond money.

"It takes about 2 years to design and build a high school—if you already have the land—and it must be timed to open at the start of the year, if possible, which can add another six-plus months to the lead time," Pasha said. that means on average three years [to build a high school]."

Frisco ISD Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said the committee took a "no-frills" approach to the bond package.

"When you look at the components, there are not a lot of discretionary things in the proposal—no natatorium or other special buildings," he said. "It's about schools and school population."

Minett and Pasha cite the quality of education, the rising property values that result from being in a strong school district and a need to avoid overcrowding as reasons for Frisco ISD residents to support the bond.

"Even if new home construction came to an immediate halt tomorrow—unlikely in the hottest growth market in North Texas—we would still need classroom space for an additional 1,500 students per year, equal to two elementary schools, for the families already located in the district," Minett said.

Passing the $775 million bond would mean the tax rate could increase as much as 8 cents throughout the life of the bond. For the average FISD home valued at about $270,000, the bond would mean an additional $17 a month in taxes.

"It is not overstating the case to say nothing is more important to our continued prosperity than getting voter permission to allow FISD to continue to offer the finest, most cost-effective education available to our kids," Pasha said.

Renee' Ehmke, Frisco ISD Board of Trustees president, said the bond committee's hard work on the package was evident in the presentation to the board.

"This plan gets the district to 66,000 students, and the projections used are conservative compared to our historical growth," she said. "Part of our job as a board of trustees is to make sure that we can accommodate those students when they get here. Our community has said repeatedly that they want, and will support, the smaller schools model. When you have smaller high schools, and it takes three years to design, plan and construct a high school, planning ahead is critical."

What if the bond election fails?

Richard Wilkinson, FISD's deputy superintendent of business services, said moderate projections are that without the bond referendum, middle schools and high schools could be past maximum capacity as early as the 2017–18 school year. Elementary schools could be past capacity as early as the 2018–19 school year.

"Currently, if you look at all of our campuses combined, we are at 90 percent enrollment," he said. "For a district our size that is very good. [Ninety percent] is a target, due to the fact that a school at full capacity cannot accommodate some of the special programming that is required by students with special needs."

Without bond funds, by 2020 portables would be likely at every campus and rezoning throughout the district would be necessary, Wilkinson said.

"This year alone we had to cap the enrollment at five elementary schools, meaning any new kids to that attendance zone were required to attend a different school," Minett said. "Overcrowding will become the norm. We will have to employ the use of portable classroom space and adjust the use of common areas like lunchrooms to accommodate the overcrowding."