Ariel Worthy/Houston Public Media
Fort Bend ISD trustees agreed to eliminate or postpone several 2023 bond projects at this week’s board meeting.
The Fort Bend ISD board voted this week to remove a new elementary school from the district’s 2023 bond project to address the budget deficit.
The $1.26 billion bail was the largest in school district history. But earlier this year, administrators informed the school board that bond costs were expected to exceed budget by nearly $133 million due to rising costs.
Since then, administration officials have slowly worked to reduce the bond deficit. As of Monday’s board meeting, the bond was expected to be about $80 million more than originally budgeted.
The board of trustees voted 5-2 to eliminate the new elementary school in the Harvest Green community, with trustees Rick Garcia and Sonya Jones voting against the measure.
The school was to be built on the site of a former prison, but some local advocates raised concerns about the presence of unmarked graves on the site.
However, the controversy was not cited as one of the reasons administrators planned a walkout from the school’s bond project, and administrators said late last year that no human remains were found on the grounds during an archaeological dig. It was announced that it was not done.
According to Fort Bend ISD documents, the district’s demographer found that elementary schools will be “underutilized” in 2033-2034. Eliminating the project will save the district $47.6 million, which will be put toward the 2023 bond program contingency fund.
During the board meeting, Garcia advocated delaying the decision and gathering more community feedback before scrapping the project altogether.
“We’re now going to go back and say, ‘We’re not going to keep the promises we made to your community,’ but at the same time we’re going to keep the promises we made to other parts of the community,” he said.
Board President Christine Tassin said building an elementary school is not financially possible.
“We don’t have the money to build this school,” she said. “I voted for the bonds as a component, and although I was not a member of the board when the bonds were called…I have had to call bonds in the past when I was on the board. , then we take that very seriously.”The district makes promises and commitments to the community. ”
Tassin also explained that funding for the various proposals is separate. Proposition A included the construction of new schools, while Proposition C was dedicated solely to the construction of new sodium.
“You really can’t mix apples and oranges,” Tassin says. “So Prop A and Prop C are separate. Whether or not you build a pool has nothing to do with Prop A’s funding.”
Trustees also voted on several other measures to reduce the bond deficit at this week’s meeting.
The trustees voted to postpone construction of a new transportation facility while they evaluate whether a special education transportation facility would better serve the district. The measure would allow the district to put $19.2 million into the reserve fund for the 2023 bond program.
The district also adjusted plans for the Hightower High School art building to fit the original budget. The facility will be renovated, but no building additions will be made. This will reduce the deficit by $6 million.
The trustees also agreed not to replace the grass baseball and softball fields at 10 high schools with artificial turf as originally planned. This will reduce the bond deficit by an additional $23.2 million.
In November, the trustees will discuss a “special purpose bond” that could include additions to Harvest Green Elementary School and the Hightower High School art building. The board also voted to postpone discussion of sodium sodium in the 2023 bond until its November meeting.
