Posted 8:50 am Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Tyler ISD Long-Range Plan OK'd
By EMILY GUEVARA
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD plans to call a November bond election to implement the first set of multiple projects outlined in its long-range plan.
The TISD board of trustees on Monday unanimously approved a long-range plan that outlines facility upgrades and some programmatic changes with a target completion date of 2020 in mind.
TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said low interest rates make the present a prime opportunity to call a bond election.
"We feel like we're going to miss a huge opportunity if we don't take some steps toward moving forward with this program in 2012," he said during Monday's board meeting.
He said the district ruled out a May bond election because the priority this spring needs to be focused on preparing students for the new state-mandated standardized tests.
Second, he said, the district needs more time to get out in the community and talk about the plan and why it believes it is the right thing.
"It makes sense," he said. "We've got to help people understand why it makes sense."
The Plan
The plan would cost an estimated $450 million to implement all projects. However, the district plans to break the projects down into bond packages, something it has not done at this point. In the coming months, the district will have to determine an order for the projects, or at least what would go in the first bond package as well as price tags for individual bond packages.
Key components of the plan include building new John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools; building a new advanced technology and career center; creating four fifth- and sixth-grade intermediate schools; creating four seventh- and eighth-grade middle schools; and building new Rice and Dixie elementary schools.
The two primary goals of this plan are to create environments that would be conducive to academic growth while also building a more financially efficient school district, Reid said.
"I don't want anybody to leave here thinking that bricks and mortar are the key to quality education because they're not," Reid said. "It's all about the teachers in the classroom. ... What we're talking about is providing them with the right tools and providing them with the right environment to do their job successfully."
The plan for the high schools is to replace Robert E. Lee at a new location and turn the current campus into a middle school.
At John Tyler, a new academic building would be built on the existing property. Reid has said some of the existing nonacademic buildings at John Tyler such as the gym could be renovated.
The advanced technology and career center would be one new facility that would serve both high school campuses. Students could choose to participate in those programs and be bused to and from the facility but have John Tyler or Lee as their home campus.
Reid has touted this facility as one that can engage students and help reduce the main high school populations during the day.
The fifth- and sixth-grade centers would allow the district to create more space on existing elementary campuses by pulling out the fifth-graders. In addition, Reid has said isolating these grade levels would help teachers better meet student academic needs.
The creation of four intermediate schools and four middle schools also would allow the district to create clearer feeder patterns. Today certain TISD students can attend the same middle school and different high schools. Under the new plan, the same group of students would attend one intermediate school (fifth and sixth grade) and one middle school (seventh and eighth). They would then join another group to attend either John Tyler or Lee high school.
Response
Board President Michelle Carr said after the meeting that it is very exciting to have an approved plan, though there still is a lot of work ahead.
She said the district will have to continue to communicate with the public to ensure that everyone knows what is in the plan and why the district has chosen this one.
Trustees Therelee Washington and the Rev. Orenthia Mason asked Reid to make sure to communicate to the public the plans for certain buildings that won't be used in the future or will be repurposed.
For example, according to the plan, Stewart and Hogg middle schools will be repurposed to serve as "school of choice" and curriculum and instruction building, respectively. The school of choice would house non-traditional education programs.
The old Griffin and old Jones campuses likely would be sold, along with the Plyler building.
Trustee Eleno Licea urged Reid to make sure all the buildings are built with room to grow. Reid said that will be done. The district is projecting and planning for 2,500 new students to be added by 2020.
The Rev. Mason said she is pleased with the planned change in configuration of the grades with the addition of intermediate schools.
"There's so much you can do academically and socially with those students," she said. "I'm just excited about what the possibilities are with those grade configurations."
TISD parent Leslie Strader was the only community member to speak. She asked several questions about redrawing boundary lines and the possibility of a ninth-grade center.
Reid has said moving forward the district will have to redraw boundary lines in order to better maximize space and provide for the new intermediate schools.
"It's going to be a painful process for us to go through, but we can't move forward as a district if we don't address that issue," he said.
Trustee Ron Vickery praised Reid for his communication with the community in the past year. He also said he was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback the district has received regarding the plan.
Washington told Reid he is on the right track and urged him to move forward.
Board member Shirley Jordan was absent.
