Corpus Christi ISD has a plan to build and renovate two new consolidated elementary schools and tackle projects at King, Moody and Veterans Memorial high schools.
It’s up to the voters to decide if the district can take on $135.4 million of debt to complete the projects. If approved, the bond measure will not change the tax rate.
What would a school bond mean for taxpayers?
Public school districts set two tax rates. When combined, the maintenance and operations tax rate and the interest and sinking tax rate reflect the total tax rate that taxpayers owe.
The maintenance and operations tax rate contributes to the school district’s general fund and is used to pay for annual expenses such as staff salaries. This rate, which was $0.6783 per $100 of assessed value in 2024, is set by the school board according to state law and might change, but is not impacted by school bond elections.
The interest and sinking tax rate, which contributes to the school district’s debt service fund, is used to repay bond debt and allows school districts to build new schools and renovate aging facilities.
The 2024 CCISD bond proposal that voters will decide on this fall will not change the current interest and sinking tax rate. The I&S tax rate will remain $0.28 per $100 assessed value for taxpayers.
However, state law requires that the ballot say “This is a property tax increase” even if the school district’s tax rate will not change.
If voters approve the bond measure, the district will sell schoolhouse bonds to fund capital improvements. Funds raised through the interest and sinking tax rate will be used to pay back the schoolhouse bonds over the next 20 to 30 years.
If the bond measure does not pass, the district will still collect interest and sinking tax proceeds to continue paying debt for schoolhouse bonds approved by voters in previous elections.
What do voters need to know about the election?
The election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5. Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 21, and ends Friday, Nov. 1. Mail-in ballots must be received by Friday, Oct. 25.
For more information about elections or how to vote, visit the Caller-Times’ election 2024 voter guide.
Also on the ballot for Corpus Christi ISD voters are four school board seats.
What’s planned for Kostoryz, Sanders and Yeager elementary schools?
If the election is successful for CCISD, the school district will build a new school adjacent to the Yeager Elementary School campus.
Sanders and Kostoryz elementary schools will be closed, with students and staff consolidated into the new Yeager Elementary School.
Sanders Elementary School currently has an enrollment of about 280 students. Yeager Elementary School serves about 270 students. Kostoryz Elementary School now has about 360 students.
Yeager Elementary School has an older design than the district’s more recent campuses, including outdoor courtyards and staircases that students walk through during the day. Though the school is fenced in, the district is phasing out outdoor-wing campuses due to security concerns.
“There are a lot of outdated parts of the facility that we’re constantly having to update,” Yeager Elementary School Principal Stacy Mitchan said.
What’s planned for Houston, Fannin and Travis elementary schools?
CCISD plans to renovate Houston Elementary School into a new consolidated campus that will also take in Fannin and Travis elementary schools.
Houston Elementary School was originally built in 1980. The school has about 320 students. Fannin and Travis elementary schools also date to 1980.
The new school will have a capacity of about 900 students if the bond is successful.
Houston Elementary School Principal Jennifer Allen-Perez said the campus is excited to grow. Allen-Perez experienced a previous consolidation, when Allen and Evans elementary schools were merged.
“Students were excited to get new friends,” Allen-Perez said. “They were curious.”
With the Allen and Evans consolidation, staff maintained the traditions of both neighborhood schools. Though the specifics of the Houston-Fannin-Travis merger are still being determined, Allen-Perez said that she sees how the process could work similarly.
Improvements in the new Houston Elementary School could include new lighting and space for physical education classes. Currently, indoor physical education activities at the school are held in portable classrooms.
Teacher Diana Johnson has taught at Houston Elementary School for 26 years.
“I feel expansion is very needed and it would be really nice to have more students and become a bigger family here at Sam Houston,” Johnson said. “Our school is in need of renovations.”
What about King High School?
If the bond is approved, King High School will receive new classrooms, restrooms and locker rooms, as well as improved hallways and more windows throughout the campus.
“When you walk up to our school, compared to other high schools, it doesn’t have that nice entry way,” Principal Prudence Farrell said.
The school was built 60 years ago and serves more than 1,300 students currently.
“Of all the high schools, we’ve had the least amount of work done,” Farrell said.
The school has points of pride, including a concourse area and programs, such as fashion design, printing and imaging, and other career and technical education programs.
Teacher Valerie Elizondo has taught fashion design in the same classroom at King High School for 16 years. She’s hopeful that if voters approve a bond, her classroom might get an upgrade.
Fashion design is an art, Elizondo said, and needs a classroom with sunlight. Additionally, the classroom, which houses sewing machines and irons, has electrical limitations.
Despite a few updates over the years, including a black box theater, most of the school dates to the 1960s, Farrell said. The small fixes over the years have resulted in mismatched tile, with bright hallways opening into dimmer, older halls.
“Our students here at King, they deserve to go to a clean-looking school that’s fresh and modern,” Farrell said.
What’s proposed for Moody High School?
Moody High School’s renovation plan includes new restrooms and locker rooms and hallway improvements.
Moody High School has had improvements in recent years, including a new academic wing, weight room, wrestling room and dance room, and renovations to the parts of campus that house science labs.
The school’s restrooms date to the 1960s, Principal Enrique Vela said. Some hallways aren’t well lit, he added.
“Sprucing up the hallways and new light fixtures and things of that nature would benefit a lot of our kids, just with the liveliness of the campus,” Vela said.
Vela said that bond projects can help create a better environment for students and teachers.
“We’ve been very successful with bonds,” Vela said. “I think the community sees the need for updating our buildings and investing in our kids’ education.”
Some Moody High School students came from Cunningham at South Park Middle School, which opened in 2019. Others have seen other, newer schools in the area.
“Our kids travel and they go to different (schools) and they see upgrades,” Vela said. “Then they come back and they’d like to see some of those things here too. It gets them excited about coming to school.”
Why is Veterans Memorial High School included?
Though Veterans Memorial High School is one of CCISD’s newer high school campuses, it is large and growing. Currently, Veterans Memorial High School serves more than 2,000 students.
The district plans to build eight additional classrooms and a new weight room. Principal Scott Walker told the school board during a bond workshop in late July that the school’s current weight room is not sufficient to serve the number of students.
Students use the weight room from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the school week, Walker told the board.
The school’s wrestling team also currently uses space intended for a JROTC program, which is now needed due to the addition of a U.S. Coast Guard JROTC program at the school.
Some of the school’s health science programs are currently using science labs, impacting scheduling for science classes.
What else is included?
The bond also includes $3 million to upgrade fine arts capability across the district, including improved stage lighting and projectors and electronic screens at the high schools, as well as replacing aging band equipment and expanding the district’s band instrument inventory.
The district also plans to add an additional gym at Haas Middle School. This continues the district’s efforts to have two gyms at all middle schools.
The additional gym at Haas Middle School would be 10,000 square feet.
Was anything left out of the bond?
Before the CCISD school board approved the final slate of projects that are being presented to voters, it discussed other needs across the district.
Not everything made the final cut.
The bond does not include funds to address cybersecurity needs or to update the technology at the district’s data center. This would have cost nearly $9 million.
In May, during a board workshop, officials discussed adding a wing to Galvan Elementary School, but this was not included in the bond package.
Haven’t there already been several bond elections in recent years?
Corpus Christi ISD voters have approved numerous bond initiatives in recent years for the following projects:
- 2022: A new Hamlin Middle School, a new southeast middle school campus, a consolidation of Allen and Evans elementary schools, additional gyms at Adkins and Driscoll middle schools and playground and marquee improvements across the district.
- 2020: The construction of Creekside Elementary School to serve new southeast neighborhoods, a new Gibson Elementary School and the consolidation of Montclair, Woodlawn and Meadowbrook elementary schools into Cullen Place Elementary School.
- 2018: A new Carroll High School campus, renovations at Menger Elementary School and classroom upgrades at Ray and Miller high schools.
- 2016: Two new middle schools, Baker and Cunningham at South Park middle schools, and additions to Haas Middle School, as well as classroom additions to Mireles and Webb elementary schools and improvements to Miller, Ray, King and Moody high schools and the Cabaniss Athletic Complex.
- 2014: Three new elementary schools, classroom additions at Oak Park Elementary School, district-wide security enhancements, maintenance upgrades at high schools and new tracks at each middle school.
- 2010: The construction of Veterans Memorial High School and Adkins Middle School.
- 2008: Six new campuses — Zavala, Garcia, Berlanga, Hicks and Kolda elementary school and the Branch Academy for Career and Technical Education — to replace and consolidate other aging facilities. Metro Elementary School of Design was also renovated.
The 2024 bond package is nearly $85 million smaller than the bond the district successfully passed in 2022, which totaled $220 million.
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