A bond election for a grand total of $217,30,413 will now be placed in the hands of Hays CISD voters.
Hays CISD school board members finalized a list of projects and propositions that they will ask voters to approve of on the May 2020 ballot.
District voters will decide which expenditures the district will use in the future.
The board passed six propositions. Originally, the middle school tennis court resurfacing was on the list, but was removed because it could be paid for by operating funds.
“The new law that requires bond propositions to be structured in certain ways would have required it to be its own proposition. Since it was a relatively small amount compared to the others - $120,000, the Board took it off of the list,” District spokesman TimSavoy said.
In addition, the administration center was moved out of the first proposition to become its own proposition, now titled “Proposition E.”
The stadium proposition is now split into two propositions – stadium expansions and stadium renovation.
The complete list of finalized propositions includes:
Proposition A
Accommodating School District Growth is valued at $137,482,025 and was approved unanimously. The proposition includes middle school expansions & improvements, a new elementary school, Live Oak Academy renovation and expansion, elementary school expansions, HHS science labs renovation, secondary musical instruments, tennis courts (addition at Lehman High School), new buses, and purchase land for growth.
Proposition B
Maintaining district assets is valued at $34,660,816 and was approved unanimously. The proposition includes campus HVACs & fire alarms, campus roofing projects, campus flooring projects, miscellaneous maintenance projects, hardscape improvements, keyless entry upgrades, and intercom upgrades.
Proposition C
Stadium expansion is valued at $12,134,802 and was voted down by four board members, but it will still be placed on the ballot.
School Board Vice President Will McManus voted no against the proposition.
“It’s not the right time. I understand the goals and the work will positively serve our students but we need to be mindful as a governing body about how much we ask our taxpayers,” McManus said.
Ultimately, voters will get the chance to vote if they want stadium expansion.
Proposition D
Stadium Improvements is valued at $3,954,453 and was approved unanimously. The proposition includes Shelton Stadium parking (HHS Band practice area) and campus parking at HHS Baseball/Softball Complex (1,200 seats) and LHS Baseball and Softball Complex improvements (1,200 seats).
Proposition E
Administration is valued at $27,768,317 and was approved unanimously. The proposition would construct a new building on the current central office location.
During discussion, School Board Secretary Vanessa Petrea said she is aware that this item will not be popular and potentially controversial, but looks forward to voter results.
“If you haven’t been to our administration building then you wouldn’t know that it could use an upgrade. We have everybody in separate buildings, our CNI is in another building. We have a few folks in portable buildings, some in old warehouses. It was an old John Deere warehouse before it was administration building. If this passes, this would be built on the same location which is a central location. It is a very big ask ... but we outgrew it the minute we built it. Attracting the best staff might include upgrading our facility and technology,” Petrea said.
Proposition F
Technology improvement is valued at $1,300,000 and was passed unanimously. The proposition would add storage capacity on the district's technology network to accommodate a larger student and staff population and provide additional mobile devices for teaching, virtual learning and on-line state assessments.
The finalized list can be found at the district’s website.
Now that the list is finalized, the district will make an effort to educate the community. On May 2, voters will be able to choose what expenditures they would like to see in the community.
