Live updates: Birdville school district $359.8 million bond partially passes
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Results from Tarrant County and Texas elections
The latest coverage and results from Tarrant County and Texas.
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Two of the proposals in the Birdville school district’s $359.8 million bond package — replacing aging campuses and upgrading safety and technology — passed, but the proposal to build indoor practice facilities at each high school failed.
With all 316 vote centers reporting, unofficial election results indicate that 54% of voters favored rebuilding one elementary school and combining two others, 53% were for updating school technology and 53% voted against building indoor multipurpose activity centers.
“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the more than 50 community members that spent countless hours developing the bond proposal presented to voters in November,” Superintendent Gayle Stinson said in a statement on Wednesday morning. “In addition, thank you to the Birdville Backers, the board of trustees, BISD staff, and community supporters for your commitment to educating BISD families about the needs across the district and how the 2022 bond proposal would address those needs. Thank you all for your support of our children.”
In February, a committee of about 50 community and business leaders began work on the program. During their meetings, they considered facilities issues and deficiencies, student enrollment, demographics reports and financial reports before making a final recommendation to the board of trustees. The bond election was unanimously called by the board in August.
With 32 campuses, Birdville is the fourth largest school district in Northeast Tarrant County. The district spans 40 miles and serves a population of 120,000 residents and more than 22,400 students. The entire community of Richland Hills and parts of Colleyville, Fort Worth, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills and Watauga are within its boundaries.
Birdville’s last bond election was in 2018, when a $252.8 million bond program passed. The 2022 midterm votes on the bond package are preliminary and not official until they are canvassed.
The district says passage of the bond package will not increase the property tax rate for homeowners or businesses because the district has been able to pay down existing debt at a quick rate. Every year, the district pays off a portion of its existing bonds, with the current debt incurred at $409 million from bond elections in 2006, 2014 and 2018.
The bond proposal was composed of three parts that encompassed safety and security upgrades, renovations and repairs, new technology and indoor multipurpose activity centers.
Proposition A, accepted by voters, will use $284.7 million to rebuild Mullendore Elementary and build a new partner school combining Smith and Francisco elementary schools. The rebuilding plan for the elementary schools will eliminate 26 portable classrooms across the district and could save the district up to $1 million in operational costs each year. Maintaining the current Mullendore campus, built in 1955, would cost more than 83% of the rebuild. The new combined campus for about 756 students from the two schools will be built on the current Smith Elementary site because the property is larger. BISD says the Smith building will be torn down and it will work with city and community leaders to determine the best use of the Francisco property.
Proposition A will also fund the renovation of a Denton Highway property to be used for the new Shannon High and special education programs, Haltom High’s cafeteria expansion as well as additional classrooms and updated auditorium seating, new buses, district-wide repair and press boxes and artificial turf for high school fields. Security measures will include additional exterior lighting, security camera and door access system upgrades as well as fire alarm system replacements and elevator upgrades at various campuses.
For $16.1 million, Proposition B, which was also OK’d by voters, will update student and staff instructional equipment. The rejected Proposition C, totaling $59 million, would have funded indoor multipurpose activity centers to be used for extracurriculars at the district’s three high schools.
“These centers are in other districts. We want to give our kids the same opportunities that our neighbors are having,” Stinson previously told the Star-Telegram.
With the passage of the $300.8 million bond package, BISD’s board of trustees will form a citizen’s bond oversight committee to oversee the bond to ensure everything in the proposal is completed and within budget. BISD says bonds are fully repaid in 25 years or less, with current BISD bonds scheduled to be paid off by 2044.
The oversight committee will monitor the progress of the work to ensure it’s consistent with the two propositions approved by voters, the district said. At least four times a year, the committee will report on the progress to trustees, and quarterly reports will be available for review on the district’s website.
The district will immediately develop a schedule of when work on individual campuses will take place. It should take three to four years to complete all the projects, per the district, with most renovations taking place during the summer months. Building Mullendore Elementary and the Smith/Francisco school will take an estimated two to three years.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 7:26 PM.
