The Austin ISD board of trustees approved the timeline for its 2013 bond package at its Oct. 22 meeting and discussed how a potential tax ratification election [TRE] might fit into that timeline.

AISD's citizens bond advisory committee [CBAC] conducted 11 meetings to review district needs in terms of maintenance, safety, security, food services, transportation, contracts, technology, library services and educator quality. The CBAC then developed a timeline for how bond plans will be developed and shared.

In November, the CBAC will refine its preliminary scope of work to be included in the bond package and present it to the board at the Jan. 14 work session. The board may hold public hearings in January for community feedback followed by a work session in February to finalize the scope of work.

The CBAC recommended Feb. 25 as the date to order a bond election, March 1 as the last day for ordering a special election and May 11 to hold the bond election.

Trustees including Vincent Torres and board President Mark Williams pointed out approval of the timeline is not approval of a bond election but rather a move that enables one to take place.

Trustee Annette LoVoi asked Superintendent Meria Carstarphen when a potential TRE might be scheduled and which would come first—a bond election or a TRE.

"The window for AISD is the 2013 year, so it's that calendar year, which leaves us really with two windows: a spring window and a fall window," Carstarphen explained. "When we've talked to the citizens bond advisory committee and others—lots of different stakeholder groups—the feeling is certainly that the bond should come first at this time so that we get a sense of the kind of academic programming."

Williams encouraged approval of the timeline.

"The TRE is dependent on a lot of external variables that we don't know yet," he said. "The bond, on the other hand, we know now we have huge needs in our community and huge needs at campuses."

The CBAC will present its preliminary scope of work at public hearings Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Reagan High School cafeteria and Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Crockett High School cafeteria.