Aledo ISD

Aledo ISD Trustees call for May 6 bond election

Co-chairs of the Aledo Growth Committe, Dan Reilley and Kelli Stumbo, present their recommendations to the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees during a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Ryan Wade/The Community News

Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2023 7:58 am

By Mercedes Mayer
Aledo ISD

The Aledo ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously Monday night, Feb. 13, to call a bond election for May 6, 2023.

Trustees approved the Aledo Growth Committee’s (AGC) recommendation of a $123,800,000 bond proposal that will be presented on the ballot as a single proposition and will include a 2.5 cent Interest & Sinking (I&S) tax rate increase.

The AGC, led by community co-chairs Dan Reilley and Kelli Stumbo, included 51 community members that met 13 times - with two additional community-wide meetings - from August 2022 to February examining the district’s increasing student enrollment, financial information, districtwide facility needs and instructional goals.

“The board appreciates how thorough the AGC was in its planning for this bond proposal and for our future,” AISD Board President Hoyt Harris said. “They met for about 40 hours altogether and thoughtfully considered our school district’s needs as representatives of our community. We are grateful for their service and commitment to our students, staff and taxpayers.”

In addition to a 2023 bond proposal, the AGC also presented a long-range plan for growth for the district for the next six years. The AGC will continue to meet and study updated data over the coming year-plus to begin to implement the long-range plan for growth.

The AGC built a bond recommendation that focuses on immediate student capacity needs at the elementary level, that includes additional and repurposed space at the high school level, that addresses the need for the district to repair, maintain and improve facilities as well as facility safety and security equipment as technology improves, and that provides additional funding for AISD to purchase buses, technology and land to meet needs due to growth.

“We are proud of the work that was completed by the Aledo Growth Committee and that we were able to come to 100 percent consensus on this bond package as well as the long-term plan for growth,” Stumbo said. “Every meeting, we made sure to hear feedback from each committee member. We also were grateful for the amount of feedback we received from the community through two community meetings, a dedicated email address and an online feedback survey distributed to the entire community. We feel like this bond proposal is representative of what our community expects and can support.”

The proposal uses two years of projected taxable value growth but not all of the district’s available bonding capacity. While the 2023 bond package proposes a $0.025 tax rate increase, the Aledo ISD expects the continued pattern of additional tax rate compression. AISD Trustees have lowered the overall tax rate each of the last four years, decreasing the tax rate 22.71 cents total, or an average of $0.057 per year over the last four years. The 2022-23 tax rate compression for Aledo ISD was $0.025.

“Through the support our community showed for the 2019 bond, we made great progress in serving our Bearcat students in our fast-growth district,” Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn said. “The 2023 bond package and long-range plan for growth, both constructed by community members, continue to address our rapidly increasing enrollment and give the district a road map for future growth.”

PASA, the district’s demographer, projects that, by the 2024-2025 school year, projected enrollment at 5 of 6 elementary schools will exceed maximum capacity. With updated demographic reports pushing the projected need for more secondary space slightly further out - in 2027-28 projected district middle school enrollment will exceed max capacity, 2028-29 for high school enrollment - the AGC decided in its long-range plan for growth that the decision on how to build additional high school space would be better made in 2025 when committee members can reassess enrollment, bonding capacity, construction costs, and legislative actions.

“The AGC had multiple discussions about what adding significant high school space may look like for our district, whether that be starting to build high school No. 2, starting with phase one of high school No. 2, or building a College and Career Academy,” Reilley said. “Ultimately, we don’t have the bonding capacity available to begin any of those projects. The very first priority for the AGC was to build another elementary school to address that immediate need, so the AGC decided it would be prudent to continue to study enrollment, finances and construction costs over the next couple of years before making a decision on high school space.”

The proposition includes a new Elementary School No. 7 ($59.8 million) that will be located on district-owned property northwest of the new McAnally Middle School, additions/repurposed high school space ($20.2 million), replacement furniture for students in grades 9-12 ($5 million), safety and security ($5 million), technology ($6.5 million), maintenance ($5 million), school buses ($4.5 million), and land for future school sites - including additional high school facilities ($17.8 million).

The additions/repurposed high school space would include additional Ag barn space and a new multi-purpose addition and repurposed space that would create flexibility for programs like band, colorguard, cheerleading, dance, engineering/robotics, wrestling and other programs in need of large learning spaces and locker room/changing space. Renovations to AHS include restrooms, library, lecture hall, auditorium, kitchen serving lines, new flooring and paint in classrooms, and new paint and wall finishes in hallways.

Early voting for the May 6 election begins Monday, April 24, and ends Tuesday, May 2. Early voting locations include the Aledo ISD Administration building. The last day to register to vote is Thursday, April 6; visit voteTexas.gov to register to vote or to check voter registration status.

School officials will provide informational presentations throughout the community during the spring leading to the May 6 election. Aledo ISD bond information can be found on the district’s bond website (aledoisd.org/bond) and includes demographic reports, bond presentations, frequently asked questions, financial presentations, and details about the Aledo Growth Committee process.

If you have questions or would like to schedule a bond presentation for your organization or neighborhood, contact Katherine Springer at 817-441-8327 or email aledobond@aledoisd.org.