Residents in the Roosevelt Independent School District are set to vote on a $58.5 million bond package aimed largely at improving campus facilities.
RISD Superintendent Dallas Grimes said that the bond package comes as the district is facing aging and inadequate facilities that need some upgrades or that need to be completely rebuilt.
“In the last 65 years, this community has not passed a bond for a brand new academic campus,” Grimes said. “Now is the time, in our opinion, to maximize the growth that has moved into the district.”
With early voting set to begin April 22 and Election Day on May 3, here is what you need to know about the RISD 2025 bond request.
Will the RISD 2025 bond raise my taxes?
For some, yes.
Schools have two means of support funded through taxes. A school’s maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate is set by the state and can only be used to help the district to pay salaries and daily operational expenses.
The interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate is what the Texas school district can leverage for bonds to help pay for capital projects and improvements.
Grimes said the proposal is asking residents to consider a 21-cent increase to the district’s current I&S rate, which is set at 19 cents, according to the Texas Education Agency.
For context, according to the TEA, RISD I&S tax rate has been dropping since the Fiscal Year 2020-21 rate, which was at 28.16 cents per $100 home value evaluations that fell to 21 cents in FY 21-22.
However, this tax increase will not affect homeowners over the age of 65 who have filed for an “Over 65 Exemption,” according to RISD. If the tax rate is approved, RISD stated that it would cost homeowners with a $150,000 home valuation approximately $8.34 per month.
What will the RISD 2025 bond help fund?
“If we’re successful, we would build a brand new elementary campus,” Grime said.
With the growing size of the district, Grimes said the new facility would be able to house 600 students. He also said the need for the build stems from the average age of the district facilities being around 65 years old, with parts of the elementary being 90 years old.
“It was built in 1935,” Grimes said. “There’s a (Works Projects Administration) plaque on there.”
For context, WPA was a New Deal initiative from the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidential administration.
Grimes said that the new elementary school would be located directly behind the existing one, and once completed, the district will demolish the existing structure.
Other projects would include upgrades to the secondary campus for the district, including interior renovations and expanding the dining hall.
“We’re out of space in our dining hall – our freshman class eats in the practice gym on the bleachers,” Grimes said.
The district would also fund upgrades to its septic systems, leach fields, and sewer lines, and expand the existing awning for buses to accommodate more buses, to better protect them, ensuring the district’s investment in the fleet lasts longer.
What is the timeline for the projects if the bond passes?
Grimes said the district has to wait 90 days after the Election day, given that it’s approved, before it could start issuing bonds, but it would take about three years to complete every project on the district’s to-do list.
“The sewer septic systems, probably what we would turn loose first on just trying to get all that stuff out of the way so that we can tie into the new buildings,” Grimes said.
Why now?
Grimes said it’s because of the Leprino Foods factory that was recently built in the district’s area just east of Lubbock.
“That factory is valued so highly that they would basically pick up at least 50% of all these improvements – that’s just how much valuation there is in that factory,” Grimes said.
However, Grimes said now is the time to do so because the factory will depreciate over the years, meaning their contributions will also shrink.
“To get the max contribution from these recent industrial improvements, we really need to pass this now; otherwise, by delaying it, construction costs will go up and their contribution will go down,” Grimes said.
Why is the voting for the RISD bond different from other Lubbock County Elections?
One unique aspect of the RISD bond election is that district residents can only vote for the bond at RISD’s Gymnasium, located at 1301 CR 3300, on Election Day and early voting, and at the Lubbock County Elections Office, 1308 Crickets Ave., during early voting.
Grimes said he requested this change because the district viewed the prescribed voting hours during the May elections as restrictive and not accessible to parents. For context, early voting occurs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays with no weekend times to vote.
“If you think about, our young families and just working folks, especially who live out here and work in town, you drop the kids off before 8, you’ve got to be at work at 8, and then you come back to pick up,” Grimes said. “I mean – 8 to 6? That’s just tough.”
Grimes said that in order to expand voting hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during early voting and offer weekend times, he had to obtain a consensus from other voting sites in Lubbock to approve the change, so the ballot could be voted on at any of the polling locations.
However, no consensus was able to be reached, so Grimes and RISD’s school board concluded that requesting an exemption to at least open its polling site for a longer duration during early election was needed, which was OK’d by the Texas Secretary of State and the Lubbock County Commissioners.
What happens if the bond isn’t approved?
“Whether it goes thumbs up or thumbs down, the needs of the district will be here,” Grimes said.
With the district’s aging facilities, the growth of Lubbock is impacting the district and capitalizing on Leprino to foot some of the bill, Grimes said, now is the time to make the necessary changes to facilities to ensure they last for the next 50 to 60 years.
To learn more about the RISD 2025 Bond, visit roosevelt.k12.tx.us.
