OVERVIEW
At its August 15, 2023 meeting, the CSISD Board of Trustees approved an order calling for a bond election for November 7, 2023.
This comes after a 48-member committee met six times in April and May, and ultimately recommended the board call a bond election for November 7, 2023, to include projects totaling $350.865 million. In the June, July and August workshops, the board received presentations and had discussions regarding the recommended projects for the 2023 bond package.
By law, CSISD will have four separate propositions on the November ballot.
- PROPOSITION A: General ($284,975,000)
- Districtwide Safety & Security
- Renovations to Rock Prairie Elementary
- A&M Consolidated HS Additions and Renovations
- Phase II College Station HS Additions and Renovations
- Phase II Career and Technical Education Center
- College View HS Cosmetology Lab
- Middle School Playing Fields Renovations
- Central Office Additions and Renovations
- Transportation
- Technology Infrastructure
- Facilities Maintenance Improvements
- Land Acquisition
- PROPOSITION B: Technology Devices ($14,145,000)
- PROPOSITION C: Football Stadiums ($38,475,000)
- Tiger Stadium Field House Additions and Renovations
- Tiger Stadium Renovations
- Cougar Stadium Renovations
- PROPOSITION D: Baseball/Softball Stadiums ($13,270,000)
TAX IMPACT
The tax impact for the issuance of $350.865 million in bonds is estimated to be a two-cent increase to the current CSISD Interest and Sinking Tax Rate of $0.2630 per $100 of valuation.
At its August 22, 2023 meeting, the board adopted a Maintenance and Operations Tax Rate of $0.6992, which is 21.58 cents lower than last year’s rate.
The current total tax rate of $0.9622 is now 43.58 cents lower than the 2017 rate of $1.3980, which is a decrease of 31 percent in the last six years.
In addition to the lower tax rate, the November 7 election will include a statewide election to increase the homeowners’ exemption from $40,000 to $100,000.
Citizens who are 65 or older and have applied for and received the over 65 exemption will not see an increase in taxes.
BACKGROUND
In September of 2022, CSISD and VLK Architects began a process to produce a long-range facilities plan to review and prioritize the district’s facility needs and consider future bond referendums.
VLK gathered feedback from district and campus administration and comprehensively reviewed existing facilities. This resulted in the development of several documents:
- Curation Report - Curation studies the district philosophy in order to adequately approach the collaborative Long Range Facility Planning process.
- Programming and Capacity Analysis - This report looks at preferred adjacencies, number and sizes of spaces and how the spaces support the educational program. The report also includes a building capacity analysis.
- Facilities Condition Assessment - VLK performed assessments of instructional campuses, administrative buildings, maintenance warehouse and transportation facilities. The assessments include review of as-built drawings, site visits, reviewing district standards for new construction, surveys of campus principals and program directors, and incorporating current building codes and accessibility requirements.
- High School Athletic Facility Comparison - This report includes comparisons of fieldhouses, locker rooms, showers, and shared spaces.
- Educational Adequacy Index - This assessment reviews how well a school supports the teaching and learning goals of the district. The form includes over 100 data points which involves a physical walk-through of every space. A combination of TEA Standards, Education Specifications and the district's educational mission serve as the base for comparison. Sample items include: Are the rooms the correct size? Are corridors wide enough for efficient traffic flow? Do classrooms have natural light? Is the furniture flexible?
In March of 2023, the CSISD Board of Trustees chartered an ad hoc Long Range Facilities and Bond Planning Committee.
Using the reports from VLK and facilitated by Dr. Lizzy Johnson, the 48-member committee met six times to develop consensus on what projects should be included in the 2023 bond package.
On May 16, 2023, committee members presented their recommendations to the school board, who discussed the proposed projects in open meetings on May 16, June 20, July 18, and August 15, before officially calling for the bond package to be placed on the November 2023 ballot.
A complete timeline of the district's work leading up to presenting this bond package to the community can be found here.