Wylie ISD voters pass $240 million bond for improvement of schools and technology
Wylie ISD voters passed two of three propositions part of the district’s 2023 bond this election day.
With a forecasted growth of more than 7,000 students coming into the district in the next eight years, the passed propositions will address concerns of safety, technology and growth within school campuses.
“This is a big step for our community and our school district to invest this much into our schools. We greatly appreciate the support of the community in this effort,” said Superintendent Joey Light.
“These were needs that we felt had to be addressed because of the growth that we've experienced and the growth that we're anticipating. It was incumbent upon us to meet the needs of our schools presently and prepare for the needs in the near future,” he continued.
Proposition A and C of the proposed bond passed with reasonable margins, whereas Proposition B failed.
FOR | AGAINST | |
Proposition A | 57.95% | 42.05% |
Proposition B | 43.94% | 56.06% |
Proposition C | 55.09% | 44.91% |
The election brought more than 4,800 Wylie voters to the polls.
“We’re grateful to our community for all the support they provide to our schools, our students and staff,” said Light.
Wylie ISD Projects, Cost Estimates and Tax Rates
View the Wylie ISD 2023 Bond Information Video for more details and visuals of the projects to be completed.
Proposition A helps combat the projected growth of the district with plans of expansion, upgrades and new spaces and safety measures. This large project is estimated to cost $234 million.
Wylie High School Expansion and Upgrades
Add 62 classrooms to increase student capacity by 1,000 students
New classrooms for Career and Technology Education (CTE) classes
Expansion of the band hall
New athletic practice gym
New agriculture building
Additional turf field for marching band practice and all athletic teams
Twelve new tennis courts and tennis building
Baseball and softball stadium upgrades with new seating
New parking spaces for tennis/baseball/softball complex
New Elementary School
East Intermediate Expansion
Addition of 28 classrooms
Address Aging Buildings
Existing campus renovations, paving improvements and district-wide equipment and finishes
Safety and Security Improvements
Site fencing
Security film on entrance
Windows and doors
Door hardware
Access control panels
Video surveillance
New Buses
Currently 62 buses with more than 94 daily routes to transport students
Average of Wylie ISD school bus is 12 years old
Useful life of a school bus is 7-10 years, 60% of current buses are more than 10 years old
Networking and Technology upgrades
Proposition C will bring devices to each student and teacher within the district for classroom use repairing the 1-to-1 student to device ratio. Remote access is essential to student learning and will assist with preventative performance drops due to lack of technology and internet accessibility. The estimated cost of improvements is $6 million.
The approximated financial impact of these improvements in comparison to previous years is down. This is due to the new state compression savings and the $100,000 homestead exemption.
“We did a lot of analysis when we called for the bond,” Light said. “In the tax year of 2022-23, the average household taxes were about $2,900 for an average $323,000. With the passings of the compression tax and the homestead exemption in the legislature, it really took our taxes down.”
The average household owner is now projected to pay $2,600, a decrease of $300 since last year.
“We don't know exactly the rate. We're just going off what the projections were based on the best information that we had at the time,” Light added.
Next Steps for Wylie ISD
The Growth and Planning Committee, district administration and Board of Trustees have a plan in place to kick off the projects in the upcoming months.
Light stated they will start with ordering new buses and ordering technology for the teachers and students.
“We have already been working on some things in anticipation of the bond passage, so we are pretty far along with preparing to start the tennis courts and tennis building,” said Light.
After the construction of the courts, the new agriculture building will be built in place of the old tennis courts.
“The dominos will start to fall once we get started on these projects. Once the tennis courts and building are completed, then the Ag building completed, then we can start on the high school and somewhere in that process we will be looking at a new elementary and the expansion of the East Intermediate campus,” Light stated.
Light pressed the urgency of beginning on projects soon due to the effects of inflation.
“With inflation as high as it is right now, we feel like if we don't spend the money, as soon as we can, inflation will. Inflation's going to spend our money,” said Light. “So, every day we wait costs are going up and if we're not careful, if we hold on to this money for a long period of time, we're not going to be able to deal with the inflation. There are also a lot of other factors in this process, and I would say our desire would be to do everything as quickly as we can.”
As of now, there is not a timeline of the projects planned, but Light anticipates the completion of Proposition A and C to be completed by fall 2025.
“There’s a lot of things that happen between now and then, and I know how construction is at times. Sometimes things fall into place, and sometimes there’s lots of hurdles you’ve got to overcome. We are optimistic about how quickly this will take place,” he said.
What about Proposition B and the Community Event Center?
Although Proposition B failed with voters, Light is hopeful of solving the issues at the football stadium and the construction of the Community Event Center.
“The needs that we had for Proposition B are still there,” he said. “We will get together with our board and discuss the issues and will come up with a game plan for that. We don't have any plans for anything right now, but we need to regroup and just see the direction that we that we need to go from here.”
Stay Involved
The district will continue to update the public on projects throughout the process. The bond will be further discussed at the district’s school board meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13 at the Wylie Early Childhood Center, 6249 Buffalo Gap Rd.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Voters pass estimated $240 million bond to improve school district
