MIDLAND, Texas — $1.68 billion is a massive number, and that’s the investment that Midland ISD is looking for from the community in the initial potential bond proposal. Following a lengthy process to get to this point, the MISD Board of Trustees heard a review of the bond Thursday night.
The discussions ranged from new schools in the district to a cost that is now down to around $1.4 billion. The school bond efforts tie into current capacity issues and getting ready for future growth, with grade reconfiguration at the forefront.
Midland ISD could potentially see generational change in the years to come.
“All of grade reconfiguration hinges on the two high schools," said Midland ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Howard. "We have to get the ninth graders up to create that capacity.”
As a potential bond proposal calls for the construction of two new high schools with Midland Legacy and Midland High, almost $1 billion goes to those two projects.
“We know regardless of what the ask is, it’s going to be one of the biggest asks that we ask our community to invest in Midland ISD," Dr. Howard said. "And so -- for that reason – we’ve done all of this work this last month to really make sure we’re not asking for one dollar more or one dollar less than is associated with those needs.”
Dr. Howard knows those needs impact academic performance.
“One of the biggest challenges is ninth graders do not have access to all of the curriculum – all of the course offerings – that 10-through-12th graders do," Dr. Howard said. "Therefore, they’re missing out on certain intro courses. They have to wait until 10th grade to take those, or we have to figure out how to bus back and forth and then that creates a master-of-schedule challenge.”
The current high schools would both become middle schools, leading to a more traditional structure.
“One of the things we talked about tonight is we have one additional transition than the majority of schools across the state," Dr. Howard said. "So, we’re transitioning them to seventh grade and then to ninth grade and then to 10th grade – so three times in four years. This would reduce us down to two transitions during those critical transition years.”
A generational change requires a strong investment with education holding all the importance.
“We didn’t cut cost out when we felt like it had a direct impact on instruction and teacher preparation and planning," Dr. Howard said.
According to a press release from Midland ISD, Midland taxpayer can also expect to see lower school taxes whether the bond passes or not. The state passed tax relief for homeowners, which means the rate is expected to fall from 84.5 cents to 66 cents.
Erick Macha, Director at Hilltop Securities, said during the meeting that bonds are not sold into one lump sum. If the bond passes, Macha anticipates four bond sales of $360 Million. If the bond also passes, this will give MISD the lowest interest rate available at this time due to the state's Permanent Schools Fund.
Thursday night was the first time the school board was really able to come together and work through all the details of the potential bond proposal. There is still some more work to be done by the district to finalize a recommendation, and the school board has until August 21st to call for a bond election in November.