After a slate of bond proposals was rejected in November, East Central Independent School District will return to voters in May to ask them to approve funding for the construction of three new schools.
If passed, the 8-cent property tax rate increase associated with the $309 million bond would not take effect until 2027. By then, the district predicts several of its campuses will face over-enrollment, but the bond proposal “prioritizes” building new schools in high-growth areas to meet the demand.
While the district currently has a student enrollment of 11,622, East Central ISD’s enrollment is projected to balloon to 25,617 by 2033.
Cassandra Barron has three kids enrolled in the district, with a sixth-grader and eighth-grader at Heritage Middle School and a freshman at East Central High School.
East Central High School currently has 3,000 students enrolled and is projected to have more than 4,200 by 2027, which exceeds the school’s current capacity by nearly 30%.
“The class sizes are definitely very, very large,” Barron said.
Heritage Middle School is projected to have an enrollment of 2,000 students within the next two years. The school’s max capacity is 1,120.
If the bonds fail to pass during the May election, East Central ISD can’t move forward with the construction of the three new schools. New schools can only be funded and created through the interest and sinking tax rate.
That’s why East Central ISD was able to break ground and begin construction on Valor Middle School and Victory Elementary School, after passing a 2022 bond proposal giving the district access to $240 million. Honor Elementary, which finished construction and opened last summer, is also a result of that bond. Before opening Honor Elementary for the 2024-25 school year, Tradition Elementary in Saint Hedwig held classes in portables or temporary buildings on the school grounds.
Overcrowded
At Harmony Elementary, which sits on unincorporated land in Bexar County off U.S. Highway 181 South, some classes have to eat lunch on the cafeteria’s stage, because there isn’t enough room.
District officials said the current bond proposal — a total of $309,150,000 — addresses the rapid enrollment growth and ensures students access to safe and modern learning environments.
Divided into three parts, $208.8 million of the bond will go toward building a new high school; $49.7 million will go toward a new elementary school on the north end, and the remaining $50.5 million will be for a new elementary school on the district’s south side.
If passed, the bond proposal would impose a tax rate of $0.0875 per $100 of taxable value on homeowners, or less than 8 cents by 2027. So someone with a $280,000 home with a Homestead Exemption of $100,00, would see a property tax increase of $13 a month or $157 annually by 2027.
However, homeowners who are 100% disabled veterans, over the age of 65 or below the exemption level won’t see a tax increase at all.
During the general November election last year, voters rejected three bond propositions that would’ve unlocked $347.8 million for the district to upgrade aging school and sports facilities, make teacher pay more competitive, fund armed security officers and pay for the construction of three new schools. At the time, voters were asked to approve a 13-cent property tax increase for every $100 in assessed value.
“We didn’t get the result we hoped for, but we look forward to reengaging with our Facilities Committee and gathering additional feedback,” East Central ISD Superintendent Roland Toscano said after November’s defeat.
In an effort to regroup, the district’s Bond Planning Committee conducted a local survey with 974 participants which found that while most local residents favor investing in the schools to ensure better educational outcomes and avoid overcrowding, they are also fearful of higher tax burdens.
The committee also reflected on bond proposal failures across the state last year: 20 of 35 bond proposals from districts across the state were rejected and no similar proposals, with more than a 10 cent-per-$100 tax increase, passed.
That’s how the Bond Planning Committee landed on the proposed $0.0875 tax increase or 8 cents, instead of 13 cents like last time, said Barron, who volunteers with the district and has shared the survey with other parents.
“With the last bond, they felt that the increase was just going to be too much, and there was a lot of economic uncertainty, which is completely understandable,” Barron said. “We’re trying to cut costs as much as possible, so we can work together with parents. We don’t want them to think that we’re ignoring what they said.”
After many pro-voucher candidates were elected to the Texas Legislature last year, Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to fully fund public schools in the state and give teachers raises, something he refused to do during the last legislative session after education savings accounts (ESAs) did not pass in the House by 84-63.
Last week, the Senate passed a bill that would give families $10,000 a year in taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition and other education-related expenses like textbooks or transportation.
After November’s loss, East Central district officials said their $2.4 million budget deficit would grow to $9 million without the property tax increase. The last state legislative session saw a record budget surplus of $32 billion.
“East Central’s not going to get any less crowded, and we really need to get these schools approved so we can get started,” Barron said.
If the bond passes, the projected completion date for the new East Central ISD elementary school on the district’s north side is July 2027. Construction for the southern elementary school and the high school is expected to be done by July 2028.
The last day to register to vote for municipal elections is April 3.
Early voting for the election begins April 21 and ends April 29. Election Day is May 3.
