The Basics of the Bond
The Mansfield ISD Board of trustees accepted the Facilities and Growth Planning Committee’s recommendation to call for a $275 million bond for the school district. The funding would go toward the expansion of MISD through the building of new schools and the renovation of current ones. On May 6, Mansfield residents will vote on whether or not to accept the bond.
Similar to a mortgage, a bond is a contract to pay back borrowed funds with interest. The school district sells bonds to competing lenders to pay for the proposed projects.
Spending Decisions
The Facilities and Growth Planning Committee proposed the bond to promote growth, equity and safety. The money is in accord with the district’s Vision 2020 plan introduced this year. The Vision 2020 motto is “MISD: A great place to live, learn and teach.”
The southernmost region of Mansfield is growing with 5,000-6,000 new homes currently under construction in the MISD attendance zone. Mansfield ISD’s rapid growth calls for new schools to house the estimated 3,000 new students as soon as 2020. Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, Mansfield ISD Superintendent, believes MISD has to grow to accommodate the up and coming population.
“Based on this many new homes, we typically count on about one student per home, so if we build 5,000 new homes, we’re expecting roughly 5,000 new students,” Dr. Vaszauskas said. “When people move here, they’re going to bring their children. They’re going to want their children to come to school, so we have to have a place to put them.”
The Facilities and Growth Planning Committee met for several months to decide how the bond should be spent and what needs improvement in the district. The Facilities and Growth Committee studied many requests and needs throughout the district. They used information, including the district’s guiding statements, to determine what would be included in the current referendum. The committee voted unanimously on the recommendation to build additional schools in the southeast section of the district.
What’s Included in the Bond
The bond money, if passed, would be spent on a new elementary school, a new intermediate school and a middle school for students living in the southernmost area of the district. Projects within the bond include improvements in equity and student experience, safety and security, along with infrastructure. Jeff Brogden, Associate Superintendent of Facilities & Bond Programs, commented on how much work was put into the making and perfecting of the bond.
“Having participated on many growth committees, this was by far the longest ever convened and the most in-depth study I have ever witnessed,” Mr. Brogden said. “I did not serve as a committee member; I only facilitated the presentations and arranged the venues for the committee work.”
In addition to building three new schools for $143,300,000, Mansfield High, Summit High, T.A. Howard Middle, Rogene Worley Middle, Cross Timbers Intermediate, Donna Shepard Intermediate and The Phoenix Academy would be renovated and existing elementary schools’ empty space would be converted into new science labs.
A multi-purpose athletic building at each high school would also be added. Howard and Worley’s courtyards would be enclosed to create more classrooms. A total of $54,250,000 would go to infrastructure improvements such as technology, cabling and backup systems,
HVAC upgrades and replacements, site and exterior improvements, interior finish and hardware upgrades and roof replacements. Additionally, $10,050,000 would go toward safety and security, video surveillance, playground equipment, fire alarm systems and exterior lighting systems.
“We heard proposals from people who wanted to build different things, add different things, so what this committee did was look at all of those requests and kind of prioritize them,” Dr. Vaszauskas said. “It’s all out there under one proposal. It either all passes, or it all fails.”
A portion of the bond is dedicated to improvements at Mansfield’s 40 schools and facilities. About $9,326,000 of the bond money would go into improvements at Legacy. Legacy would receive new surveillance cameras installed and would have funding to improve exterior appearances with repairs for the parking lot and sidewalks. An upgraded energy management system and replacement of chiller units and water heaters are included in Legacy’s budget. Lastly, a new multipurpose building with locker rooms, a weight room, training and team room would be built to be utilized by all athletic programs.
“We want to give our students more opportunities to take extracurricular activities, and so part of the bond is an expansion of the athletic areas,” Dr. Vaszauskas said.
The bond would alleviate the stress placed on the overfilled schools in the southeast region of the district by providing new schools for the influx of students. Right now, Mansfield ISD owns property that hasn’t been built on yet. They currently own plots of land reserved for new high schools.
“High schools are very expensive to build and we were limited to how much money we can ask for in a bond,” Dr. Vaszauskas said. “[Altogether,] I think our district has a good reputation.”
Concerns about the Bond
Some parents and students are concerned for this bond because fine arts seems to have been left out of the bond. A new intermediate school orchestra program was created last year. However, there is not a classroom to practice or house a full orchestra program for students who plan to continue it in high school.
Legacy band student, senior Jonathan Lanter, feels the fine arts program was cheated out of the bond money especially since the band has had the same uniforms for 10 years.
“First of all, non-band people don’t really understand what it’s like to wear the uniforms — how much sweat ends up in them and especially our hats. Each game we sweat buckets in them, then hang them up in a bag for a week which just makes them stink,” Lanter said. “They only get cleaned once a season, and then, you have to think that we’ve had these uniforms for 10 years. So yeah, band people feel pretty strongly about it.”
The Facilities and Growth Planning Committee assessed the needs of the entire district, which did not include expanding facilities for the upcoming orchestra programs at high schools, band uniforms, art upgrades, theater renovations, journalism labs or choir’s needs. However, the 2006 Bond included the construction of The Center for Performing Arts.
Concerned Mansfield citizen *Janet Anderson feels disappointed that fine arts have been completely left out of the bond proposal as well.
“I am disappointed. Athletics is important, I am all for them. They are a good way to build character,” Anderson said. “I do believe that in the fine arts just as many students are served and benefit from them. [The fine arts budget] is mainly used on consumables, meaning they are used once and they are done.”
However, Mr. Brogden says fine arts has not been left out of the bond program.
“There have been many programmatic changes to fine arts as well as an investment in the Performing Arts Center and band halls at Orr and Cross Timbers in recent programs. The Center for Performing Arts was a $42 million project,” Mr. Brogden said. “Additionally, students from elementary to high school are able to go on more fine art field trips including watching the Fort Worth Symphony and the Fort Worth Opera.”
Mr. Brogden also explained how the bond will cover the high school’s athletic and some fine arts programs.
“The athletic building proposed will address the core needs of the student athletes. The expanding programs need additional room to accommodate the existing students,” Mr. Brogden said. “If approved and the building is constructed, it will also free up some much-needed space that can be re-purposed for fine arts and other programs. We are already investigating how to increase the dance room spaces at all high schools.”
How Bonds and Tax Money Work Together
The 2011 bond of $198.5 million allowed MISD to rebuild five elementary schools so that they would meet the same standards as the others. The final project from the 2011 bond will be completed when Charlotte Anderson reopens in August.
“It’s challenging. Taxes are high. It’s an emotional issue. Any time you’re talking about tax dollars, it’s an emotional issue,” Dr. Vaszauskas said.
The district is allotted about $6,100 per student. The district doesn’t get more money on appraisals. If local taxes go up, the state contributes less. No matter how much is paid on appraisals, the district receives the same amount.
“Right now we get money three ways: local taxes, the state and a little bit of the federal government. If the local contribution goes down, state contribution goes up,” Dr. Vaszauskas said.
To find out how this would affect how much tax are paying, divide the taxable value of property by 100, then multiply that number by 0.03. The MISD website also has a tax calculator for the convenience of voters.
“If you live in a $200,000 house in Mansfield, it would be a little over $4 a month in additional taxes, so less than a Starbucks,” Dr. Vaszauskas said.
Voting
All taxpayers living in Mansfield ISD will vote for or against the bond proposal. Early voting begins April 24 and goes through May 2 at the locations found here. Election Day is May 6.
“I think that people are very, very busy in the spring, and so the [voting] turnout is typically fairly low, but we would hope for a good turnout in Mansfield,” Dr. Vaszauskas said.
All early voting locations and times in both Tarrant and Johnson county are available on the MISD voting page. Residents can also vote by mail by April 25.
“I think Mansfield has been very conservative,” Dr. Vaszauskas said. “I think people would have good, hard questions, and they deserve good answers. They can educate themselves and make the decision they think is important.”
*name has been changed for privacy
