Anderson-Shiro CISD School Bond Raises Questions About Transparency

Anderson-Shiro CISD High SchoolPhoto byCandid Conservative Column

Things are heating up in Grimes County as residents once again decide on a controversial Anderson-Shiro Consolidated Independent School District (“ASCISD”) school bond measure slated for the November 5, 2024 ballot.

What exactly is a school bond? Like county and city bonds, school districts use a school bond, a loan, to cover expenses. Think of a school bond like a home loan. When you look at buying a home, you get preapproved for an amount you can borrow to buy that home. For school bonds, voters decide whether to give a school district the pre-approval to take out a loan. If voters say yes to a school district’s plan, the district sells the bonds to get the money.

The way taxes influence school bond issues relates to the “millage rates,” or property taxes, that are applied to the value of assessed property.

Generally, when a school district sells bonds, it raises the millage rate to pay down the debt, which leads to an increase in property tax for residents.

In May 2023 residents of ASCISD voted against a $44.5 million school bond measure that would have built a new elementary, renovated the existing elementary into a junior high, updated the field house, weight room, ag facilities, an administration building and more. Residents against the bond cited concerns with a lack of transparency and too many add-ons. It was ultimately defeated with 57.2% voting no.

Now, just over a year later, residents are again being asked to consider a school bond but this time for $60 million. While this bond measure touts a 26% higher price tag, the school district proposes fewer projects with the construction of a new elementary school campus, renovating the current elementary into a junior high campus and new driveway construction. The elementary alone is slated for $55 million ($639.53/sq. ft. By our research this is well over the national average of $300-$400/sq. ft.) This begs the question of why ASCISD is inflating construction costs?

We were surprised to see ASCISD opt for a higher bond and wanted to speak with citizens on both sides of this issue. While we found that proponents and opponents of the bond agree there needs to be a fiscally responsible solution to address growth and support the students and staff, they disagree that the current bond proposal is the answer.

We spoke with one couple who both have a background in education who are supporting the current bond proposal recognizing the growth in the district and fear it's only going to cost more in the long run, a narrative we have observed as a prominent marketing strategy and scare tactic being used by ASCISD. When asked if they are concerned about an increase in their property taxes and unstable economy, they admitted it is a concern but feel it’s the price to be paid for growth and improvements.

Those who oppose are raising concerns with the new measure stating there was a lack of transparency during the last bond cycle and unfortunately those issues still exist as well as the current climate of high inflation and timing of this latest bond proposal.

We spoke with a large landowner in the district and 2 families who are first responders who have children currently attending ASCISD and while they were pleased to see the district conduct citizen bond meetings over the summer, they felt their concerns and opinions were not reasonably considered.

They noted while they feel strongly about supporting their community and school district they also feel strongly about the district being financially responsible. They noted the process felt rushed, did not adequately explore more affordable options and a lack of answers to their questions made it difficult to continue participating in the bond process.

Citizens apprehensive about this new bond proposal are concerned about the overall budget and bottom line price tag this bond comes with. The citizens we spoke with cited they are trying to do their due diligence by submitting open records requests to include an itemized budget for the new bond to help explain how the new bond proposal ballooned from $44.5 million to $60 million.

The Anderson-Shiro CISD Notice and Order of Bond Election filed with the Grimes County Election office notes an overall price tag of $107 million once interest is considered. Citizens are particularly concerned with the following bond language included in the Order of Bond Election filed by the district:

“Board of Trustees of the District be authorized to levy and pledge, and cause to be assessed and collected, annual ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the District sufficient, without limit as to rate or amount, to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds and the cost of any credit agreements executed in connection with the bonds?”

Opponents of the current bond proposal agree improvements are needed but the extravagance of this bond for a 3A school district like ASCISD has not changed from the previous bond that was presented in May of 2023.

The current bond proposal is asking citizens and taxpayers to build an 86,000 sq. ft. elementary school. To compare that, we did some research to put that into perspective with something familiar, like the average size of an H.E.B. store which is approx. 70,000 sq. ft. While Grimes County is expected to grow exponentially as a whole, can ASCISD account for enough growth within their specific district to justify building an elementary school of that size for $55 million while ASCISD currently owes over $22 million on 2 previous school bonds?

Under the Texas Public Information Act, a governmental body has 10 days to respond to open records requests but to date, several requests submitted to ASCISD have gone unanswered for more than 60 days despite involvement from Attorney General Ken Paxton and the district stating they are committed to transparency.

In fact, one citizen we spoke with received correspondence from an attorney in San Antonio in an attempt to delay releasing public information. A tactic that is disappointing when you stop to consider ASCISD is opting to spend taxpayer’s dollars on expensive attorney fees instead of transparency.

Why does ASCISD want to levy taxes without limit? Why is ASCISD hiding behind an out-of-town law firm to delay releasing information to taxpayers who are being asked to foot the bill? Is ASCISD attempting to hide frivolous spending in this $60 million bond package?

During the last bond cycle, ASCISD included over $1 million to renovate the administrative offices. After the bond was defeated, ASCISD moved forward with that renovation spending $1.5 million for these improvements. If there was money in the budget for these improvements, why was ASCISD trying to strap taxpayers with it? Tactics like these are contributing to the growing distrust across the nation for school bonds. According to the Texas Association of School Boards, only about 46% of school bonds are being passed.

With high inflation, is it financially responsible to burden the taxpayers of ASCISD with a 21% higher property tax rate especially when you consider 46% of ASCISD elementary school students are on free or reduced lunches? With this bond proposal, ASCISD will have the highest property tax rate in Grimes County surpassing both Navasota and Madisonville ISDs.

Planning for growth is important for every community but it can’t come at the expense of pricing families out of their homes. With the November 5, 2024 election quickly approaching, a lack of transparency and unanswered questions from ASCISD continue to linger.