Posted 12:00 am Thursday, December 31, 2009
TISD Bond Elections Bring New Schools To Tyler Students
2000 DECADE IN REVIEW 2009
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD opened seven new elementary schools within the past decade and five more are under construction and set to open throughout 2010.
TISD and community leaders said the new schools have brought an increase in academic achievement for their students, a renewed sense of pride and revitalized the neighborhoods in Tyler.
These new facilities are made possible through the passage of two bond elections -- one in 2004 and one in 2008, each representing one phase of a multi-phased approach to tackling facility needs in TISD, starting with elementary schools.
State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, who served as a co-chairman on the "Vote Yes" committees to help pass each of those bond issues, said their passage was extremely important not only to TISD but to the community.
WORK IN PROGRESS: Orr Elementary School is seen July 12 during construction.
"Anyone who looks at the job the district has done building those schools and looks at what it has done for the neighborhoods and for our city I think will be proud of how the funds were used and the facilities that have been built," Eltife said. "I think without question it was very significant we passed those and embarked on an effort to rebuild our elementary schools."
Phase 1 schools saw a decrease in energy consumption, increased security/safety measures and saw students make improvement on Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores, according to TISD information. More than 80 portable buildings were removed from Phase 1 schools.
But TISD's successful 2004 bond election came after a failed bond election in 2002.
That $293 million bond issue asked voters for too much at once, some have said. Voters defeated the February 2002 bond election by about a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.
But in 2004, the district offered the different multi-phased approach to tackling facility needs, asking for about $96 million to just replace six existing elementary schools and build a new one.
Voters approved the Phase 1 bond by a 2-to-1 margin, with 68 percent of voters in favor and about 32 percent against the proposal.
The 2004 bond issue built new Austin, Bell, Bonner, Douglas, Peete and Ramey elementary schools and a new school, Jack Elementary, which relieved overcrowding at Owens and Rice elementary schools.
Four years later, in 2008, TISD voters approved Phase 2 by about 65 percent.
That $124.9 million bond is replacing six schools: Clarkston, Griffin, Jones, Orr and Woods elementary schools as well as the St. Louis School-Wayne D. Boshears Center for Exceptional Programs for special needs students. Jones and St. Louis are being built as one facility, known as Jones-Boshears.
TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said the 2004 bond passage that occurred when Dr. David Simmons was superintendent was "monumental" for TISD because of the many years passed since a building was constructed in TISD. It had been more than 20 years since a new school opened in TISD.
"It led down the pathway to the next one and made my job much easier with the 2008 bond because we had visible symbols of what we were going to do," Reid said. "Not only were they beautiful, but they were on time and under budget."
The Phase 1 schools have not only brought improved achievement but also pride for students and teachers.
"I think these new buildings tell them they're important because they know that the community chose to spend millions of dollars to put a beautiful new school out there for them," Reid said.
He said the new schools also have enhanced the district's ability to recruit quality staff and teachers.
Reid said he believes the community is gaining confidence in the district's use of the construction dollars.
"I believe these decisions are going to be ones that pay off for the community as a whole because I think the better schools we have both academically and the physical nature of the building, the more competitive our community is in terms of attracting new residents and new businesses," he said. "I think it's huge for the district and the community."
TISD Board President Ron Vickery said it was critical that the community came together the way it did to support public education.
"The first and most important and greatest impact in my mind is improving the quality of the education for the students who are attending those schools," Vickery said. "There's an indirect impact in terms of the communities in which these schools go. It's going to improve the neighborhoods as a whole to have a quality public education building in their backyard. The long-term impact will be felt by all those neighborhoods as we continue to produce quality graduates that are hopefully going to come back and be productive citizens for our community for years to come."
Vickery said what made the 2004 and 2008 bond issues successful versus the 2002 bond was the different approach.
"We took a smaller, more piecemeal approach to the needs and had a strategic plan on addressing the parts of the community and the schools that had the greatest needs and addressing them first," he said, also noting attacking the elementary school needs first helped.
Eltife said anytime you go to the voters to ask to increase their taxes, you have to show them the need.
And TISD made its case in 2004 and 2008, he said.
"It took the entire community working together to pass those bond issues," Eltife said. "And I think they were critical to the future of public education in Tyler, and I think we should all be proud of the way the bond money has been spent."
