UPDATE: Tyler ISD trustees decided tonight to not call a November bond election but plan to call for an election in May.
The board plans to begin work immediately to decide what to include in that election.
TISD has been considering November for the next bond election after an $89.9 million bond proposal failed at the polls in 2010.
The board is looking to implement portions of its long-range plan approved in February. The plan outlined facility upgrades and some programmatic changes through 2020.
Key features of the plan included building new John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools, building an Advanced Technology and Career Center, creating four fifth- and sixth-grade centers and four seventh- and eighth-grade centers and completing work on the elementary school campuses
By Emily Guevara
eguevara@tylerpaper.comAfter a year of long-range planning and months of pondering, the time has come for some decision making.
The Tyler Independent School District board of trustees is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to call a November bond election.
The meeting, which will begin at 5 p.m., is open to the public and will include a time for public comment.
It comes almost two years after the board called its last bond election, an $89.85 million proposal, which failed narrowly at the polls.
After the defeat, the district spent one year developing a long-range plan which outlines facility needs and some programmatic changes to be accomplished by 2020.
A bond election now would be the first step toward implementing some of those projects. But the delicate job of creating a proposal that appeals to a majority of TISD voters is one they must face if they are to move forward.
The needs are clear. The district's long-range plan outlines about $450 million worth of projects to be completed by 2020.
Key components of this plan are the construction of new John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools, a new advanced technology and career center, and new Rice and Dixie elementary schools.
The plan also calls for a grade reconfiguration with the creation of four fifth- and sixth-grade intermediate schools and four seventh- and eighth-grade middle schools.
Three projects have come to the forefront for a possible bond proposal this year. They are the advanced career and technology center, a new southwest Tyler middle school, and a new Boulter Middle School.
Three board members who spoke with the Tyler Morning Telegraph last week — president Michelle Carr, vice president the Rev. Orenthia Mason, and trustee Eleno Licea — said trustees are, for the most part, in agreement that these projects are priorities.
It's what else to add, if anything, that becomes the question.
There are some financial constraints guiding the process as well.
The district can support a bond package up to $150 million with the current tax rate of $1.375 per $100 valuation, Mrs. Carr said.
That means if they don't want to raise the tax rate, they stay within the limit.
The three projects on the short list — a career and technology center, a southwest Tyler middle school and a new Boulter Middle School — would cost about $97 million combined.
