Several school districts across North Texas are seeking voter approval for bonds totaling more than a billion dollars altogether.
The largest package is in Frisco ISD. The district seeks $1.08 billion for campus upgrades and new equipment. Frisco ISD has four separate propositions.
Its largest, Proposition B, asks voters for $986 million to renovate 20 aging buildings, upgrade equipment, add new school buses and fund more safety and security measures.
The district’s Proposition C, for $88 million, would fund new computers and upgrade online infrastructure.
Prop D asks for $11.2 million for a new tennis center.
Proposition A is a Voter-Approved Tax Rate Election, or VATRE. It would help cover the cost of Frisco ISD’s $30 million budget deficit, which the district took on partly to provide teacher raises. If the VATRE passes, the district said the increase in the maintenance and operation tax rate would be 2.94 cents per $100 in property valuation. Because of that, the tax bill on an average home in Frisco ISD would rise by $158 a year.
The last time Frisco floated a bond package was in 2018.
Allen ISD, meanwhile, is seeking voter approval of a $447.44 million bond package.
Prop A is the largest of three propositions, for $419 million. The district’s chief communications officer, David Hicks, said it would fund improvements of buildings 30 and 40 years old, fund a multi-purpose facility, add new buses, and, importantly, he said, improve internet and Wi-Fi across the district.
“How are students learning today?” Hicks asked. “How are teachers teaching today and can we update some of those spaces to provide a better experience for our teachers and students?”
Hicks also said Prop A would enhance security “so that there are multiple points of entry before a visitor can actually access the main part of the building.
“We call these man traps in the safety and security world,” he said.
Hicks said some campuses have them, but others don’t.
Proposition B seeks $5.36 million to repair athletic tracks.
Proposition C, for $23.08 million, would fund the purchase, replacement and updating of technology, like individual computers.
In East Dallas, still-growing Sunnyvale ISD is asking voters to approve three bond propositions. The most expensive, $77 million Proposition A, would pay for building upgrades and repairs, parking and traffic control, and safety and security items.
Superintendent Matt Kimball said while Sunnyvale remains small — it had about 2,300 students last year, up from 1,400 a decade ago — it’s averaged a 5% growth year after year.
“We’ll probably over the next ten years, we’ll probably still maintain an average of 4% to 6% growth,” Kimball said.
Prop B seeks $17 million for a student activity center that all students would use. Prop C, for $900,000, would fund storm repair and track reimbursement.
Highland Park ISD seeks voter approval for a bond valued at $137 million. It would pay for new construction, land acquisition, renovation and building improvements, as well as equipment for school safety & security. The district would also buy new buses.
Birdville ISD seeks approval of a $48 million bond to pay for multi-purpose indoor practice fields.
Several districts, including Grapevine-Colleyville, Coppell, Northwest, and Celina, are asking voters to approve their own VATREs to help offset deficits and ongoing expenses. Districts point to inflation and what they call the state’s underfunded education budget, unchanged since 2019.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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