A sample ballot has been posted here.

An explanation of tax increases resulting in passage of the CSISD bond is posted here.

Rumor I hear that there are some upset people that were surprised in the change of direction for the Timber rebuild & expansion. Many of the students that go there now will have to return back to their home campus and this will be an elite school. Heard that when the supt talked about this to Consol faculty, he couldn't answer any questions by the staff and they were really upset with him. So if the admin changes the dynamics of a school that bond money is paying for now, can you trust that the admin will spend future bond money the way it is presented in the election?

That wasn't my understanding, but if you have questions, try emailing the Superintendent.

IMO, there has often been confusion in the community regarding Timber because the building houses schools with more than one objective. One school is the disciplinary alternative for students who must attend school while serving out an infraction more severe than detention. Because the students vary in type of infraction and age, they are separated out accordingly in different parts of the complex.

Another is for nontraditional students, i.e. students who have had their academic progress interrupted for a variety of reasons (car accident, homelessness, illness, etc), students who wish to progress at an accelerated rate (perhaps w/o the extracurriculars), and students who simply have a difficult time functioning in a traditional classroom setting as opposed to self-paced. This school is by application only (I believe) and has turned away students in the past due to the size of the facility. Perhaps that could be why some are thinking elite?


I believe students in the disciplinary program always return to their home campus once their infraction has been resolved but maybe there are some new program developments in place. Keep in mind that the State frequently passes new mandates that schools must follow, so perhaps that is muddying the waters.

There are two programs currently in that facility. Timber is the self paced program and Venture is the disciplinary program. The bond issue was to upgrade the facility for Timber self paced program. Venture was still going to be housed there but the bond issue sales documents were light on details in regard to that program. CSISD would prefer you did not know it even exists. I have been told the new name is Campus View and only existing students in the Timber program will finsish out there. New self paced students will be housed at an existing campus. The Campus View facility is supposed to compete with Bryan's Collegate and IB programs. The intent it to move/add dual credit and AP program to Campus View and move venture and timber (self paced) to another campus. They talk about free dual credit classes where you currently have to pay and other good programs, but not at all what the voters were told the facility would be used for when they were ask to approve the bonds. The real problem is that the Venture students were segerated for good reason and it seems that the campuses may have to deal with them within their In school suspension program. Also there were good reasons that the Timber students were seperated, including where negative influnces on the traditional campuses had caused them to fail there before.
The say people are upset is an understatement. The students/parents of Timber are not happy, the teachers you will have the venture trouble makers back on campus are not happy, and the Gifted/AP/and other excellent students and their facility that are due to be seperated are not happy either. So now its the voters turn to be upset about the CSISD bait and switch. If this is the normal course of business who know if they plan to actually spend the money they are asking for on the state projects or if they might just repurpose it all for their pet Natatorium project.

Hmmm, well, I was going off the information that was initially presented, so this 'rumor' would be news to me and yes, upsetting were it to be proven true.

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That's good to know.

I'm still not sure why, though, the council even focused on that option, when there were several other, more desired projects that were recommended. Why bring it up at all? Just drop it.

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The council is doing what they are supposed to do - they are reviewing ALL of the recommendations sent to them from the bond committee. The community center did get added to the bond list for council's consideration by the committee - it just didn't rank as high as the others. The city council will weigh these rankings, but it is ultimately the council's decision as to what gets put on the bond.

When you say there are other "more desired projects" on the list, I guess it depends on your definition of desired. If "desired" means "needed by the city", then you are correct. If "desired" means "wanted by the people that actually show up at public meetings held by the bond committee", then you are wrong. From what I understand, the public that actually showed up at the bond public meetings were mostly represented by a large group of seniors that are pushing for a community center.

That said, I can't imagine the council putting it on the ballot.

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Cities are like people. We have a whole lot of wants but very few needs.

My favorite line in the explanation of tax increases is this gem:

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These increases will not affect those whose property values are frozen.

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Nice that they underline it and print it in bold text so the senior citizens - aka those who vote religiously - can read it.

In other words, 'hey old folks with the expensive homes - it's ok to vote for this because we're going to make everyone else pay for it'.

Post Oak High School !! Kids love the mall and boom they can be there everyday!
POHS Walkers !

CSPD gets Sears and it already has auto bays, close to the highway and future carnivals.

New senior center is that satellite building Sears has for repairs etc next to Wolf Pen.

It is not even 9AM and I have already solved three count em three challenges this city has !
Four if you throw in Post Oak mall being an eye sore !

How much did the previous bond election in 2013 actually increase property taxes? The estimate showed the potential of between .05 and .08 cents per $100 valuation.

According to CSISD's web page on the 2015 Bond Information, the tax rate increased by 6 cents per $100 of valuation from the last bond election.

http://www.csisd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=362049&type=d

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between .05 and .08 cents per $100 valuation.

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No, it was supposed to be 5 and 8 cents per $100 valuation. $0.05 = 5 cents. You using Verizon Math?

(I know it's old, that's why winky face)

So if I understand this correctly, based on 2015 appraised values, the combined board members' homesteads (appraised at $3,689,000) would have seen a combined tax increase of $2,213.40 and be looking at an additional increase of between $2,213.40 and $3,689.00 with passage of this bond issue?

That is, of course, provided none of them are over 65 - there's no way of knowing since the recently revamped Brazoscad system doesn't reveal that particular exemption and instead posts the disclaimer, "For privacy reasons not all exemptions are shown online". Posting that you are a disabled veteran, however, doesn't seem to violate privacy reasons (not to mention posting the appraised value of your property).

None of the current board is 65 or older

Just vote NO on CSISD bond. I did. You are welcome.