TISD Postpones Bond Election

TYLER — Tyler school trustees have decided not to put a bond issue on the November ballot. Instead, they are looking at next May to present the issue to voters. The action came Monday at a special session of the school board. Interim Superintendent Gary Mooring says the board has had a tough time coming to a conclusion on how to proceed and when to call a bond election. Mooring tells KTBB the trustees want to make the right decision at the right time for the community — and that they need more time to do it.

Grassroots America – We the People board member and Chairman of the Tyler ISD Watchdog Committee Rick Eisenbach applauded the school board’s action. He told school trustees, “The economic climate in which we live today makes it ever more difficult for people to vote for more debt.” He said there are too many things to be considered before voting on a bond election. “Until the Board puts forth a bold, decisive plan to deal with the recent failing ratings of the two high schools, addresses a new academic covenant with the community, and faces the discipline problems head-on to give teachers relief, we cannot give a favorable nod to a bond election of any kind.”

JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director of Grassroots America – We The People, told school trustees there are five ways the district’s long-range plan is incomplete. She said these matters should be addressed before a bond election is called. According to Fleming:

1. Prove up cost estimates. Construction costs per square foot are too high when compared to other school construction projects in Texas. Rethink adding “bells and whistles” that drive up costs.

2. Clarify the district’s timeline for redrawing attendance zones. Parents deserve to know where children will attend school before they vote to approve a plan.

3. Prove up and justify proposed new academic delivery system. Dr. Reid’s plan to create fifth- and sixth-grade centers should be backed up with evidence demonstrating that such a plan has measurably improved academic success where this plan has been implemented.

4. Prove up and justify estimated reduced annual operating costs in the proposed plan with detailed itemized cost centers for each facility and the district as a whole.

5. Address why TISD has abandoned portions of its 2001 Covenant with the Community regarding academics. The document, which was compiled after months of study by all three presidents of local higher education institutions (TJC, UT-Tyler, and TX College) was intended to dramatically raise the bar and produce measurable improvements in academics.