Roosevelt ISD voters gave the district’s $58.5 million bond package the go-ahead, with nearly 68% of votes supporting the proposal, according to final but unofficial results released by the Lubbock County Elections Office on election night Saturday.
The bond package, aimed mostly at campus facilities including a new elementary school, received support from 469 RISD voters, with 223 against in the May 3 municipal election.
On Saturday, RISD Superintendent Dallas Grimes told the A-J he’s thankful for the vote of confidence from residents in the east Lubbock County district.
“I just want to say praise God, because I do believe in divine intervention and we are committed to making the best decisions we can for our students,” Grimes said.
The bond package comes in response to the district facing aging and inadequate facilities that need some upgrades or that need to be completely rebuilt.
“This was a big ask -$58.5 million for a 3A school district is a big ask – and we’re just glad we were able to get the support of our district to invest in our schools and our students,” Grimes said.
Saturday’s results come after RISD voters rejected a similar $58.5 million bond package last November.
Grimes said that message didn’t go unnoticed.
“That told us we needed to do a little better job of explaining the why,” Grimes said. “I know voters in our area are typically conservative, but I think the numbers conveyed and they see the need to (make this investment in our schools.)”
Now, Grimes said, his district is committed to getting work started soon.
“It was a big ask and now we have a big responsibility to deliver for our district and our students,” Grimes said. “I’m just confident our current Eagles in the building will benefit- and future Eagles that haven’t been born yet – will be able to look back and be thankful that we made this commitment now.”
Would 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.
Ahead of the election, 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’s 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?
“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 the growing size of the district, Grimes said the new elementary 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 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.
To learn more about the RISD 2025 Bond, visit roosevelt.k12.tx.us.
