By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter
Dallas, TX – Mike Moses, Superintendent, Dallas Independent School District (DISD): We're talking of improving classrooms, the places where children learn. We're talking about improving science labs, libraries, their access to technology.
Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter: Dallas superintendent Mike Moses can make a persuasive argument for the district's bond package that would benefit 163,000 students - especially since he claims the record-busting proposal is only meeting basic needs. He really wants 400 million dollars more. If approved, 1.37 billion dollars will go towards 20 new schools, early childhood development facilities, new and upgraded athletic buildings and fields, a kitchen prep center, technology. But the single largest category - 414 million dollars - is planned for critical renovations. W.H. Adamson is the oldest school in the district. At 88 years old, the Oak Cliff brick school is showing its age. Architect and DISD volunteer Craig Reynolds, who heads the district's facilities task force, says the school suffers from an old heating and air conditioning system that's noisy and inadequate. He describes another serious problem in a small crowded basement classroom.
Craig Reynolds, head of DISD facilities task force: You see where the floor is dropping away from the wall. The wall is being held in place by the other structure around it. You see an inch, inch and half gap between the wall and the floor. What that allows is water to get into the building and a chance for vermin.
Zeeble: The teacher here is Beth Pompelli, an instructor in English as a Second Language.
Beth Pompelli, English as a Second Language teacher, Adamson High School: The heating and A/C doesn't always work properly. It's either so hot it's unbearable or so cold kids have a hard time focusing. We have all kinds of creatures - little mice. We have Jose and Juan. And they're looking for Maria.
Zeeble: Tally all the various structural and maintenance needs at Adamson, and the cost comes out to eight million dollars. And Adamson's not unique, according to district officials. Students in several schools have endured flood and water damage because of inadequate drainage and leaky roofs. These serious maintenance problems scream for bond money, claim board members and administrators. But they shouldn't get it, according to at least one DISD parent.
Nancy Pappas, Founder, Dallas Public Education Advocates: The items people are complaining about are not items covered by the bond. The bond is for capital improvement projects.
Zeeble: Nancy Pappas founded Dallas Public Education Advocates, a watchdog group she says has more than a thousand names on its email list. The DISD parent keeps the books for her husband, a self employed contractor. So she claims to know what she's talking about.
Pappas: A lot of these items that people are complaining about that they want to see changed are maintenance and repair. You don't fix a leaky faucet with a bond. You don't finance out the cost of replacing a faucet over 20 years. And that's what they're doing. Well, you're really not allowed to, you know, fix a leaky faucet, so what we'll do is renovate the entire bathroom.
Zeeble: Superintendent Mike Moses disagrees.
Moses: We have an obligation to continue to use our maintenance budget to do things like carpeting, painting, to fix doorknobs, to fix small items. When we get into big modernization items, I think it's definitely a capital improvement project, and that's what we've got now.
Zeeble: Pappas has other concerns, like the district's over-use of portables, which was also criticized in the state comptroller's review of the district last summer. She doesn't believe it when officials say 40,000 students are housed in them, because she says many are unused, or used infrequently. Pappas acknowledges some schools are severely overcrowded, but that could be fixed by shifting some students to underused schools instead of building new ones. But she says her biggest concern involves trust.
Pappas: Do we trust our school board with 1.37 billion dollars? Has our school board done anything in the last - heck - six months, that says, "Mmm, you can trust us with 1.37 billion dollars?"
Zeeble: Pappas cites the board redistricting issue as just the latest reason she doesn't trust the trustees. In response to a lawsuit, a judge ruled the board held closed-door meetings about new boundaries that should have been open, and told the board vote again. But Pappas and others realize that trust of the board members is less an issue in this vote than trust of Superintendent Moses. Tom Lasso, a Hispanic in the construction business, is one of the chairs for the school bond effort.
Tom Lasso, Chair, Dallas school bond effort: Dr. Moses has made tremendous impact in the delivery of our education. We've also got glowing reports from state officials on the progress that has been made by the superintendent.
Zeeble: Once again however, Pappas doesn't buy it.
Pappas: Mike Moses is a contract employee who can walk out tomorrow. He can walk out tomorrow, and there's nothing we can do about it. He's accountable to the board. The board is accountable to us, the public. He doesn't work for us; he works for them.
Zeeble: Pappas wanted a smaller, more manageable bond proposal of about 500 million dollars, and fears the size of this package is like a citizen-funded handout to businesses. Roberto Arrodondo acknowledges it will be good for business. He works for Philips-May Corporation, a contractor that has worked on school projects
Robert Arrodondo, Public Relations and Safety Officer, Philips-May Corporation: The ripple effect of the bond is business for people. Yes, our company did build the Vickery Meadows overflow school. We've had other contracts with the DISD. We are a minority contractor. But the bond program will ripple to many contractors - if you're supplying pens, pencils; if you're a painter, a landscaper. Over a billion dollars goes a long ways in affecting the economy.
Zeeble: Arrodondo adds that if you've seen some of the schools targeted for bond money, there's no question funds are needed.
Arrodondo: We have this beautiful arena; we have these beautiful projects and then we don't have nice schools? There's something wrong there.
Zeeble: So Arrodondo and others in the construction business call this a win-win situation. Business and children will benefit. And bond proponents say the election is long overdue, especially after scandals that rocked the administration in the late '90s led trustees to postpone any vote. Again, Mike Moses.
Moses: Fact is, this district has not had a bond issue for 10 years but has grown 28,000 students. While others have had bond issues, we've not had any. We're in a situation now where we're really playing catch up.
Zeeble: If voters approve the bond, taxes will increase for the average Dallas property owner by a little more than two dollars a week, or almost 110 dollars a year. Because the ballot also includes the mayor's race, turnout is now expected to exceed 20%. Election day is Saturday. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.