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June 23, 2006—In a unanimous vote, the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees Thursday night (June 22) called for a bond election to be held on Nov. 7, 2006, to ask voters to approve funding for capital improvement projects totaling $267,667,000.
Four propositions that will appear on the ballot include:
· Proposition 1 addresses secondary grade level growth in the district. Projects to be included are a new middle school on the district’s site in the Walsh Ranch subdivision on Sam Bass Road, a high school on the district’s site on Gattis School Road (which would allow Stony Point 9th Grade Center to be repurposed as a middle school), 15 new buses, and two new land sites. Also included are master plans and additions to Westwood High School, and Round Rock High School, and additions to the Round Rock Opportunity Center and Stony Point High School. Other items include classroom renovations at McNeil High School. The total estimated cost for the proposition is $152,920,000.
· Proposition 2 addresses district's growth at the elementary grade level and includes construction and furnishing of Patsy Sommer Elementary School in Avery Ranch and an elementary school on the district’s site in the Turtle Creek neighborhood. Other items include the design of a third elementary school, 15 new buses, technology maintenance, music equipment, career and technology equipment, and infrastructure projects including plumbing, electrical, air conditioning/heating, roofing, flooring, and fire alarm systems. The total estimated cost for the proposition is $85,350,000.
· Proposition 3 addresses the need for a third elementary school in the northeastern area of the district. The total estimated cost for the proposition is $20,285,000.
· Proposition 4 addresses the expansion of the use of technology to improve the educational process. The total estimated cost is $9,110,000.
More than 100 community members have studied the district’s projected needs for the next two to three years since the 2006 Citizens Bond Committee was formed in March. The board directed the committee to concentrate on only the most critical needs in the areas of district growth, safety and health, curriculum and technology and infrastructure.
The group presented its recommendations to the board on June 19.
Additional recommendations from the Citizens Bond Committee that were supported by the board include creation of a citizen’s bond oversight committee and use of additional citizen participation in planning changes to school attendance boundaries.
Also approved by the board is the use of $.02 of the debt service fund balance to buy down the projected tax rate of $.36 to $.34 through 2011. The average value home in the district for the 2006 tax year is $169,869. The debt tax rate for the coming tax year is projected to be $.30. Based on a $.34 tax rate, the total monthly increase to the average homeowner in the district is estimated to be $5.66 per month.
The most recent bond election for the district was defeated in March of 2005 and included one proposition for $349,325,000. The most recent successful bond election was held in February 2000 and included two propositions totaling more than $199 million. Since that successful bond election in 2000, more than 6,500 new students have enrolled in RRISD. That’s equivalent to adding the populations of eight elementary schools, five large middle schools, or three high schools.
If approved, the bonds will be sold incrementally to fund projects as needed
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