Good school board indeed. The ignorance will not win.

People in the thread have been pumpers for these bonds three times now. A portion of them are honest, the rest are ignorant or dishonest.

Example of honest pro bond poster…"It is a bunch of money but community is growing. I don't agree with all of it but like most of the expenditures."

Example of the dishonest pro bond poster…"It is not a tax increase." Or "our kids can't learn or play sports under current situation."

Bond is around $50 million. Somebody is going to pay for it. You can cook the books. Or you can get out your thesaurus and create different accounting buckets. But you aren't changing the facts.

If the bond passes, you owe your proportional share of $50 million. Categorize it however you like, my debt owed goes up.

birdman said:

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People in the thread have been pumpers for these bonds three times now. A portion of them are honest, the rest are ignorant or dishonest.

Example of honest pro bond poster…"It is a bunch of money but community is growing. I don't agree with all of it but like most of the expenditures."

Example of the dishonest pro bond poster…"It is not a tax increase." Or "our kids can't learn or play sports under current situation."

Bond is around $50 million. Somebody is going to pay for it. You can cook the books. Or you can get out your thesaurus and create different accounting buckets. But you aren't changing the facts.

If the bond passes, you owe your proportional share of $50 million. Categorize it however you like, my debt owed goes up.

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The school district has needs that need to be met. The only way to provide for these needs is through a bond election. That's unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

So what you are saying is you are against the school district providing for the needs of the students we have not to mention the growing population. That's it. Bottom line.

They addressed the "needs" on the last bond and they were approved. This time its a bunch of wants the voters already said no to. Twice. It seems they cant fundraise for some odd reasons, so its easier to just take more of my money by force. Fun times.

Your solution is to fundraise for these facilities? That's tough.

The idea of paying a few extra bucks per year has people down bad.

Willing to bet a good chunk of them haven't applied for a homestead exemption, or if they already have it in place many of them don't understand that they will see an increase from $40,000 to $100,000 of their home's assessed value. Texas Legislature says the average homeowner will see a savings of $1,200.

It's crazy to me that so many people are squirming so much over a few bucks when the good of the community is on the ballot. Really sad state of affairs.

I'd love to have the 1200 dollars that was mine to begin with. And youd love to take it from me for some athletic facilities I will never be able to use.

I think the train is off the tracks. It is not about the bond, or the taxes. It is the fact that the school board is asking the voters for a 3rd time on an issue the voters have turned down twice. If it fails or when it fails, will they ask a 4th time, 5th, 6th etc. In a few years the school board, of the future, will ask for a completely different bond. This "3rd time's a charm" has left a sour taste in many of the voters mouth. How will the voters react then?

I know a great way for you to help prevent it from going to a fourth fifth or 6th time.

In the fall I asked how much this would impact an individual, on lets say a $400k house.

Texags told me around $60-$70. I spend that in 2-3 days on food alone, if not less time. To me this is a no brainer.

We have to operate in reality. The reality is this is the way districts have to operate for facility improvements. In a perfect world I would love to pay zero taxes. Last time I checked...

And to Doubledog's point, I would absolutely encourage the district to continue trying to pass bonds as it's the only way we can build new facilities or improve dilapidated ones in this broken system we're bound by. When it comes time for a 3rd HS are you going to vote down the bond to save a couple hundred bucks a year in exchange for our kids being packed in like sardines? When does that line of thinking shift to, "hey we all recognize this is a garbage system but our kids and their educational experience should always be a top priority for our community, and we should all share in this sacrifice for the greater good"???

CSISD BANKS ON BOND PACKAGE 2.0
Voters shot down athletic facility bond by slim margin in November

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EDUCATION
A&M Consolidated junior Will Hargett is the school's starting quarterback and also a pitcher on the Tiger baseball team. Currently, Hargett said limited space in the weight room means more people are assigned to stations which leads to longer workouts. A lack of shower space in the baseball locker room causes a line after practice in the middle of the day and cuts into their 30-minute lunch period.

Expanding Consol's fieldhouse and locker room space are two items listed on the two propositions worth a combined $53.4 million centered on athletic facility renovations at A&M Consolidated and College Station high schools that are up for vote on Saturday, May 4. Early voting begins Monday.

While Hargett doesn't turn 18 until June, he said he has teammates of voting age who plan to carry out their civic duty and vote yes for the bond to help future Tiger athletes, even if they themselves won't reap the benefits if the propositions pass.

"I think everything on the bond and everything people will be voting for is very needed with both schools, would be a great asset to both schools and would help both schools academically, athletically, and make people better students, better athletes and better people," Hargett said.

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"This might ruffle some feathers, but kids in high school, they are not getting out of bed every morning to go to math class," Consol head athletic trainer Elli Dinkmeyer said. "They're getting out of bed every morning because they love their extracurriculars, whether that's sports or band or the dance team. That's why they're coming and I think that is a big piece of the educational puzzle, so for people to say, 'We need to focus more on academics,' OK, that's a piece of it, but this matters, too."

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At February's school board meeting, two committee members presented recommendations to the board before the bond props were given approval via a 5-0 vote. Two board members were not present for the vote.

"When it was all said and done, they felt like everything was a need and the only thing that would wait by us not putting something on a prop now is it was going to be more expensive when we decided to do it later. In their mind, it was, 'Let's go now,'" Harkrider said.

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District officials also said the district spent around $60,000 in 2022-23 to use alternate facilities in surrounding areas when the district's baseball and softball fields were deemed unplayable due to weather. District officials believe they could save over $213,000 per year in maintenance costs by replacing the natural surfaces with turf.

The district also could make money off turf fields. Last fall, a bond committee member shared a presentation with The Eagle that showed how the district could generate almost $400,000 in annual revenue between the four fields by hosting nondistrict tournaments, playoff games and rent their fields for select team practices and games.

In 2022, the College Station baseball team played a home-and-home playoff series with Brenham. However, the Cougars elected to play their "home" games in Navasota due to poor field conditions. This year, the College Station sophomore baseball team has had two games canceled because bad weather made the grass and dirt field unplayable. Last week, the Cougars' varsity team almost had to move a game from Tuesday to Thursday because of field conditions. Litton said that would've put them in a bind for the next Tuesday with their starting pitcher on short rest as the Cougars seek a playoff berth.

"It's real, it's a competitive disadvantage playing on the surface we're playing on right now," Litton said.

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Consol's sports medicine facility has about 600 square feet of usable space and the school has over 1,200 students involved in athletics, band, cheer and dance that the school's training staff is responsible for, Dinkmeyer said. She noted their facility has just five training tables that makes it almost impossible for them to provide the care they're capable of given space restraints. This leads to students getting treatment on the floor or being turned away to return during a study hall or after school. Consol's group of over 15 female student athletic trainers has to share a room with nine lockers and one toilet with the girls powerlifting team that has 27 members. The bond would add adequate space for training facilities and provide more locker room space for multiple sports.

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What firsthand experience do you have with the purple school facilities that make you this confident that they don't need any attention?

CSHS also needs work now. It just doesn't need as much work as Consol. That's why more of the money is going to Consol and it should go there.

Parents with kids that are at CSHS or will be as CSHS are pushing for this bond to pass. They are doing it because they know the improvements are needed at Consol and everyone has kids of their friends at both schools.

If the bond gets split and it gets turned into a purple vs maroon issues, neither school will get fixed.

There have been posts on this board made by people that already prove that.

claydeezy said:

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What firsthand experience do you have with the purple school facilities that make you this confident that they don't need any attention?

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That question has been asked several times.
I haven't seen anyone that is adamantly against the bonds say that they have put eyes on the facilities that need repair.

At either school.

If you don't want the bond to pass now, how would you like those facilities to be paid for in the future? Or do you believe the work should never be done and this is the last time athletics construction is ever discussed?

Tossed my early vote yesterday- no line took 5 minutes. The 2 bonds are the only thing on the ballot. Seems weird to me voting on a bond for the 3rd time and that is the ONLY thing we are voting on.

doubledog said:

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claydeezy said:

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We have to operate in reality. The reality is this is the way districts have to operate for facility improvements. In a perfect world I would love to pay zero taxes. Last time I checked...

And to Doubledog's point, I would absolutely encourage the district to continue trying to pass bonds as it's the only way we can build new facilities or improve dilapidated ones in this broken system we're bound by. When it comes time for a 3rd HS are you going to vote down the bond to save a couple hundred bucks a year in exchange for our kids being packed in like sardines? When does that line of thinking shift to, "hey we all recognize this is a garbage system but our kids and their educational experience should always be a top priority for our community, and we should all share in this sacrifice for the greater good"???

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Putting forward new bonds for new projects --- Yes.. Trying to pass the same bond over and over again. No

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The needs are only going to get amplified with school growth. Both schools have approximately 2100 students. It's going to be worse in 3-5 years when it's 2500.

TAMU1990 said:

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doubledog said:

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claydeezy said:

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We have to operate in reality. The reality is this is the way districts have to operate for facility improvements. In a perfect world I would love to pay zero taxes. Last time I checked...

And to Doubledog's point, I would absolutely encourage the district to continue trying to pass bonds as it's the only way we can build new facilities or improve dilapidated ones in this broken system we're bound by. When it comes time for a 3rd HS are you going to vote down the bond to save a couple hundred bucks a year in exchange for our kids being packed in like sardines? When does that line of thinking shift to, "hey we all recognize this is a garbage system but our kids and their educational experience should always be a top priority for our community, and we should all share in this sacrifice for the greater good"???

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Putting forward new bonds for new projects --- Yes.. Trying to pass the same bond over and over again. No

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The needs are only going to get amplified with school growth. Both schools have approximately 2100 students. It's going to be worse in 3-5 years when it's 2500.

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That is a good point. If it doesn't pass I wouldn't be surprised to see an even bigger one being put forward in the future. Construction costs aren't going down.

This is a really vile comment. KidDoc has a busy practice because he's a great doctor.

The argument here seems to be .. well we need these improvements and upgrades for our kids so we just vote yes and if you don't vote yes then you don't care about the kids in this community or you're a tight wad

The reality is CSISD is to blame for this situation.

Bonds have passed and at a very good rate over the past 5-10-15 even 20 years.
Poor decisions have led to the current situation.
Years of poor financial decisions

When CSHS was built just what 11-12 years ago , there is no way or should have outdated or overcrowded athletic facilities .
You say it opened as a 3A high school, of course it did it only had 9th and 10th graders. It was a 3A school only temporary .
CS would not of built a new HS if it was gonna be a 3A and 5A it would of been one 6A school if that was the case.
College station has been one of the largest growth areas in the state the last 20+ years. You mean CSISD didn't plan for the future? Didn't anticipate rapid student population growth? Why not?

Consol facilities are basically the same facilities they were in the late 80's when they were built. Football stadium is pretty much exactly the same aside from turf, lights and remodeling pressbox. Baseball is the same except for new stands. You're telling me with all the bonds passed over the last 30+ years and growth that there wasn't money to put aside to save for future projects???

Iola ISD is about to turf their football, baseball and softball fields. The money is not coming from a special bond, they already have it. It comes from years of good sound financial decisions and wise spending.
Mumford ISD years ago built a fabulous baseball/ softball complex.. it was not from a bond. The school paid for it with money they already had..again from years of sound good financial decisions.

The situation at CSISD stems from years of poor financial decisions.

Don't blame the voters if this bond doesn't pass.

And BTW I did vote yes as I did in November for all the bonds .. but I completly understand for those that vote no

kevmiller said:

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The argument here seems to be .. well we need these improvements and upgrades for our kids so we just vote yes and if you don't vote yes then you don't care about the kids in this community or you're a tight wad

The reality is CSISD is to blame for this situation.

Bonds have passed and at a very good rate over the past 5-10-15 even 20 years.
Poor decisions have led to the current situation.
Years of poor financial decisions

When CSHS was built just what 11-12 years ago , there is no way or should have outdated or overcrowded athletic facilities .
You say it opened as a 3A high school, of course it did it only had 9th and 10th graders. It was a 3A school only temporary .
CS would not of built a new HS if it was gonna be a 3A and 5A it would of been one 6A school if that was the case.
College station has been one of the largest growth areas in the state the last 20+ years. You mean CSISD didn't plan for the future? Didn't anticipate rapid student population growth? Why not?

Consol facilities are basically the same facilities they were in the late 80's when they were built. Football stadium is pretty much exactly the same aside from turf, lights and remodeling pressbox. Baseball is the same except for new stands. You're telling me with all the bonds passed over the last 30+ years and growth that there wasn't money to put aside to save for future projects???

Iola ISD is about to turf their football, baseball and softball fields. The money is not coming from a special bond, they already have it. It comes from years of good sound financial decisions and wise spending.
Mumford ISD years ago built a fabulous baseball/ softball complex.. it was not from a bond. The school paid for it with money they already had..again from years of sound good financial decisions.

The situation at CSISD stems from years of poor financial decisions.

Don't blame the voters if this bond doesn't pass.

And BTW I did vote yes as I did in November for all the bonds .. but I completly understand for those that vote no

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Without going back and reading the entire thread, I think the "opened as a 3A school" comment made by someone was referring to Consol, not CSHS. The idea being the facilities were appropriate for a 3A school, not the 5A school they have become (and they could conceivably bump to 6A in the coming decade, unless the UIL shifts the limits up as they often do, or even adds 7A which is going to happen eventually.)

"A special election for two bonds, nothing more, that voters rejected twice before.

Bad school board."

What's crazy is I heard people complaining the last time that the school district "put it on the November ballot so it was buried at the end of the ballot." Some people just like to complain and imagine conspiracy theories.

I think those in favor didn't like it being down at the bottom of the ballot.

Those against it don't like the single issue ballot.

I do agree that some people just like to complain and aren't happy when they aren't complaining.