With less than a month until the Austin ISD bond election, some community members are expressing concerns about the way the district has organized projects and informed the public about the proposed $892 million bond.
Parents, teachers, residents and district officials gathered for a community meeting April 17 at Bowie High School, which is expected to receive $34,958,215 in upgrades as part of the district's proposed bond package.
Parent and Northwest Austin resident Karen Flanagan said she is encouraging others to vote against the bond.
"I think you all are not respecting the citizens of Austin [by] asking us to fund things that should be fixed right now," she told Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and other AISD officials at the meeting.
The bond comprises four propositions aiming to provide relief in categories including technology, building infrastructure, academic initiatives, fine arts, athletics and relief from overcrowding, according to AISD. There are hundreds of individual line items in the bond. Some changes would be districtwide, while others are school-specific.
If the bond passed, much of the funding would go toward facility repairs, some of which Flanagan said she thinks the district should instead solve by heading to Home Depot. She pointed to examples including 17 schools that need windows replaced, 12 facilities needing new water faucets, six schools that need debris or graffiti removed from roofs, and five schools that need new toilets.
Laura Arbilla, an AISD parent and Northwest Austin resident, said she does not agree with the way the district prioritized and organized its bond propositions. For example, she said while she would support projects offering relief for overcrowding at schools like Murchison Middle School, she does not want to have to vote for a proposition that would give thousands of dollars to minor fixes to get it.
"There are a lot of tasks and chores listed in the bond that seem like they should be funded with maintenance money," she said. "If you read [the bond line items], there's a school that is asking for a mirror for a bathroom. There's another one that's asking for a few doorknobs for a few doors. These are not things you borrow money for."
