Bond-age

On May 10th, the residents of Klein ISD will be asked to approve nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS worth of bonds between Klein ISD ($647 million) and the Lone Star College System ($420 million). Although I do not know this for certain, I suspect the two bond proposals will be voted on at different polling places, meaning in order to have a say in both bond elections, a resident must drive to two different polling places. This is of course intentionally geared towards holding the already low expected turnout even lower. Low turnout bond elections almost always pass.

While I will readily admit that both systems need an infusion of funds, I question whether they need as much as they are asking for, I also question if the funds they are asking for are going to be spent wisely. Klein ISD plans to spend $130 million to bulldoze a large section of Klein HS and rebuild it, uprooting the current students for two years crowded into a school yet to be built that will be overcrowded on day one, only to remain so for the rest of it's life. Surely there is another way that does not force students to try to live like sardines. The district needs TWO new high schools, not one, and Klein HS is not overcrowded the way the rest of the district is. The school needs to be remodeled, not torn down.

Both Klein Collins and Shindewolf, which are only 4-5 years old, already have temporary buildings, and have had them from almost day one. That tells me that the schools were not built large enough to give the district any growing space. That tells me that the district planned for overcrowding and planned obsolescence. I do not appreciate my tax dollars taken so lightly. Nor my desire or ability to pay yet more taken for granted. Is it too much to ask that a dozen or so classrooms be added to any planned building over and above the immediate need for expansion space? Use them as storerooms or language arts labs or tutor labs or something, or just close and lock the door, turn out the light and close the AC vent. It has got to be better than installing temporary buildings practically from day one.

Another $38 million is earmarked for laptop computers for high school kids, and parents will be held responsible for any loss, damages, or the cost of clearing virus infections. Most of the kids in this school district have computer/internet access at home already. Ours is not a poor district. Why do we need to give them an expensive computer for them to break or lose?

The college district is growing too. That is without a doubt and indisputable, but some of the buildings they plan on replacing are defective and the costs of replacement should be borne by the builders, not the taxpayers. One (at the North Harris Campus on W.W. Thorne Dr.) reportedly has severe water seepage problems with it's foundation, so much so that keeping tile on the floor is reportedly impossible and keeping mold in check is a constant battle. And this campus that they plan on spending a bunch of money on is at the end of two major runways at IAH with a third planned in a couple years. When planes take off and land, you can hardly hear yourself think and you can clearly see the worn tire treads on the landing gear. One of these days, one of those planes is going to have an abort on takeoff and plow into that place dumping an entire plane load of burning jet fuel on everyone there. This campus is in the very northernmost reaches of the Aldine School district, one of the original member school districts. It is not convenient to Aldine HS, Eisenhower HS, or McAurthur HS, where 3/4 of the Aldine students go. A more southerly location would be more central to that district, perhaps a new campus located on Beltway 8 just west of I-45 would be cheaper in the long run and better for the system at large than overhauling so much infrastructure at the existing campus.

In Cy-Fair, the same thing is true, one of the buildings is sinking and is in need of major foundation work I am told, but the district plans to pay for it themselves instead of seeking redress from the builder, architect and/or general contractor. They also plan on several new buildings at the Cy-Fair campus but the old TI facility, with brand new AC chillers installed, is standing empty and could be ready for students in under 4 months. But instead they plan on building all new buildings themselves. Apparently they never learned that it is usually cheaper to buy what you need than it is to build it yourself, and it is usually even cheaper when you lease it because you don't have depreciation to worry about.

There is also the fact that the debt payback schedule for both of these bonds is projected based on a real estate market that no longer exists. The market is tanking, which means the projected rate of growth of the tax base is going to be much lower than they planned. That means that to service that debt, they WILL have to increase the tax rate to keep up with the repayment schedule. Higher taxes will reduce home sales even more, leading to a downward spiral. Like the home buyers that bought more house than they could afford and then financed it with a mortgage they could not afford either, the college district and the Klein school district are biting off more than it's taxpayers will be able to chew.

Red Ink: Texas recommends that both bond proposals be rejected and force the boards to go back to the drawing board and come back with a more reasonable proposal.

Other Voices: BlogHouston here, here, and here.
Chronicle here.