Dallas school and city leaders say a historic bond on the May 2 ballot can be “transformative” for the district.
The $6.2 billion package is the largest bond proposal in Texas history. It would go toward nearly two dozen new buildings, tech and safety upgrades and hundreds of permanent classroom spaces to replace portable classrooms.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who served from 2011 to 2019, praised improvements he’s seen in Dallas ISD since he was mayor, including a B rating for the district and more than 70% of campuses earning A or B grades. He urged voters to approve this package — to maintain the progress.
“This world is moving fast in technology, in capital, in how things are done,” Rawlings said. “And we know if you're not getting better faster than the next guy, you're getting worse. It's a competitive world out there. Dallas has got to come to the polls and say ‘this is the easiest vote we've ever made.’"
Rawlings was joined by some school board trustees as well as Senior Pastor Richie Butler, with St. Luke Community United Methodist Church and Commit Partnership president Miguel Solis to tout the benefits of the bond package.
The May bond election is broken into four propositions.
The largest, Prop A, accounts for nearly $6 billion of the $6.2 billion total. It would fund new buildings and renovations, including 26 replacement campuses as well as enough new classroom capacity to eliminate portables districtwide.
Officials say the average age of Dallas ISD schools fell to about 43 years, from 52 years, thanks to the 2020 bond approval. If passed, proposition A would further reduce the age of Dallas ISD’s facilities to around 33 years. The national average is 49.
Proposition B would fund $145 million for technology upgrades.
Proposition C would enable the district to refinance debt at a cost of $143 million.
And Proposition D would service swimming pools and natatoriums across Dallas ISD for $26 million.
Dallas school board President Joe Carreon said this bond package could be transformative, not only because of all the technological, safety and facilities upgrades and improvements, but also thanks to the new campuses and elimination of hundreds of portables “once and for all,” Carreon said.
“We can do this while maintaining the lowest tax rate among the largest 10 school districts in North Texas,” he said.
Officials estimate the average homeowner would pay $2.79 a month in additional taxes, if the bond is approved.
District 5 trustee Byron Sanders wore his South Oak Cliff Gold Bears jersey to Thursday’s event, which he said he has been doing since they again won the state football championship. He said students took renewed pride in their school following the 2015 bond improvements, which helped to fully rebuild South Oak Cliff and bring students back from charter schools.
“It was amazing,” Sanders said. “We're now over almost 400 enrollment in where we were before that school was renovated. Our academic trends started to rise over time too. And what we have today is not only a three-time state high school football champion, but you also have the school that has the highest school effectiveness index score rating in the entire school district.”
The district’s last bond election was in 2020, when voters approved a $3.7 billion package.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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