Dallas Morning News
The Dallas school board voted unanimously Thursday to put a $1.35 billion bond program on the May 10 ballot, saying the money is vital for upgrading the district's aging schools.
The 9-0 vote came after trustee Carla Ranger drew small bursts of applause from the audience for questioning her colleagues about whether they were privy to the results of a potentially damaging financial audit that has not been publicly released.
"I am troubled by calling for a bond election because we do not have an audit report," Ms. Ranger said. "I'm equally concerned that I have read that some people have had some briefings."
On Wednesday, The Dallas Morning News reported that some school supporters recently were given private assurances that the audit will be "clean" and will not undermine political support for a new bond program.
The audit, by the accounting firm Deloitte and Touche, was due in December. Officials say they do not know when it will be complete. The News has also reported that the audit reportedly has found about $17.5 million in misspent grant funds and up to $100 million in corrections to past financial statements.
Ms. Ranger eventually joined her colleagues in voting to put the matter on the ballot. But she urged voters to attend town hall meetings in the coming months to express their concerns about how individual schools are affected as details of the plan become known.
The bond package would provide money for 15 new schools, including eight elementary schools, four middle schools and three high schools. Twelve existing schools would receive additions to provide 177 new classrooms. About $521 million would be spent on renovations to more than 200 schools.
School board members said the conditions at many campuses are deplorable and vowed that the new bond package would provide students with an environment in which they can thrive.
A scattering of students, parents and teachers attended Thursday's meeting at district headquarters downtown to speak against plans to transfer students from A. Maceo Smith High School to Wilmer-Hutchins High School, and then to move students from Maynard H. Jackson Middle School to A. Maceo Smith. Under that scenario, Maynard Jackson eventually would close.
Trustee Lew Blackburn, who represents the district where those schools are located, said he hopes A. Maceo Smith will be able to remain open. And he noted that the people raising concerns about the high schools are voters whose support will matter on May 10.
However, trustees' unanimous vote on Thursday will undoubtedly have political significance because DISD voters have never turned down a school bond program, dating back to 1947.
For an owner of a $200,000 house, the 2008 bond issue would raise the annual tax bill by about $99.
DISD officials have nearly completed work on projects included in the last bond program, which was approved in 2002. In that package, $1.37 billion was approved for 20 new schools, a central food services facility, a new athletic complex and additions or minor renovations to nearly all campuses.
The 2008 program tilts toward the district's southern sector, where growth is expected in the coming years. A task force that recommended the bond program considered several scenarios that would cost more money and take longer to complete. But a privately funded survey of Dallas voters showed there wasn't political support for a larger program.