Yesterday Jason Spencer wrote an interesting story exploring the changing landscape for school district bond elections. The recent Spring ISD referendum, where the district was handed a stinging defeat, is apparently indicative of a growing homeowner fatigue with school districts constantly asking for more money. School districts are always crying about the need for more money to fund new buildings due to ever-increasing numbers of students, but often included in these referendums are plans for fancy stadiums and buildings and proposed expenditures for luxury items, such as laptop computers.
The story is presented fairly I think. The pro-ISD side complains about conservative voters who are more concerned about property taxes than children (one woman says that Spring ISD voters were lashing out because the Legislature failed to deliver property tax relief which sounds right to me), and the pro-property owners side says that school districts aren’t managing wisely the money they have now. Property owners want school districts to fund the essentials first and the luxuries last, if at all.
If this backlash is surprising to school districts, then they should get connected with reality. Those of us who have listened to Edd Hendee’s and Dan Patrick’s shows on KSEV-700 know that some school district superintendents lobbied against a property tax cap that was (sort of) up for consideration in the last Legislative session. So it shouldn’t be surprising that property owners who can’t get relief in the Legislature, will decide to go right to the source — school districts.
The question is, are school districts listening?
