Why is a bond election needed at this time? What amount is needed?

The Facility Needs Assessment document, based on data collected from campuses, teams of architects, construction professionals, and District maintenance and construction management staff, identified in excess of $600 million of site and facility needs. Based on recommendations of the Citizens’ 2004 Bond Advisory Committee (CBAC), and its own public meetings, the AISD Board of Trustees has submitted a $519.5 million bond initiative to Austin voters.

How will this amount affect my property taxes?

The District Interest and Sinking (debt retirement) tax rate would increase approximately $.0465. For example, the median Austin-area home valued at $157,000 would see a monthly tax increase of $6.08 per month.

What is the tax impact on the homeowner who is 65 or older?

The proposed bond program will have no impact on homeowners who are 65 or older, because the amount of property tax that these individuals must pay never exceeds what they paid in the year they turned 65.

How will students benefit from the bond program? How will the bond program improve education in Austin?

This bond program will provide enhanced educational facilities and spaces to support academic instruction, new schools and classroom additions to relieve student overcrowding, and renovations to replace or upgrade major building systems. As new schools are constructed, students in several of the District’s most overcrowded schools will experience relief.

Which schools would benefit from this proposed bond program?

Every Austin school will benefit from renovations and upgrades. For information about a specific campus, check the AISD website, www.austin.isd.tenet.edu, or call 414-4910.

Why are you renovating schools rather than replacing them?

AISD proposes to renovate rather than replace schools for two reasons:

1) Cost – In today’s market, it is much more expensive to build a new school than to renovate an existing one.

2) Current codes and regulations – Many of the facilities that will be impacted by the proposed bond projects are on sites that will not accommodate the construction of new schools; that is, many of AISD’s school sites are too small to meet both the specifications of a modern school building and City of Austin’s standards for allowable impervious cover.

Why is the District building new schools when the total enrollment of the District has increased only slightly in the past five years?

The CBAC recognized that severe overcrowding existed in several schools and that the overcrowding was detrimental to classroom instruction. The Committee believed that these individual school situations needed to be addressed despite the fact that District enrollment trends were relatively flat in recent years. The CBAC recommended the minimum number of new schools to address the most overcrowded campuses, only those at 125 percent or greater of permanent capacity.

Which schools have enrollments above their permanent capacity and where are they located?

In 2003-04, schools with membership greater than 100 percent of permanent capacity were:

High Schools — Northwest - Anderson, McCallum; Southwest Bowie; North - Lanier; South - Akins; Central - Austin. Middle Schools — Northwest - Murchison; Southwest - Bailey, Small; South - Paredes; East - Kealing. Elementary — Northwest Doss, Hill; Southeast - Houston, Langford, Linder, Palm, Rodriguez; Southwest - Baranoff, Kiker, Mills; North - T.A. Brown, Cook, McBee, Walnut Creek; Wooldridge, Wooten, Barrington; South - Galindo, Odom, Casey; East - Norman; Central - Bryker Woods, Zilker.

Schools with projected membership in their attendance areas for 2008-09 that is greater than 100 percent are:

High Schools — South - Travis, Akins; Southwest - Bowie; North - Lanier. Middle schools — South - Paredes; Southwest Bailey, Small; North - Burnet; Northeast - Dobie, Pearce. Elementary — South - Menchaca, Odom, St. Elmo, Galindo, Casey. Southeast - Palm, Linder, Langford, Houston, Rodriguez; Southwest - Kiker, Oak Hill, Mills, Baranoff, Kocurek; North - Wooldridge, Cook, Barrington, Reilly, Walnut Creek, T.A. Brown, Wooten, McBee; Northeast - Harris, Hart, Jordan, Graham; East - Sims, Norman.

How many portables are currently being utilized in the District?

The most recent inventory in August 2004 shows the District has 630 portables currently located on 97 of 124 campuses and facilities.

What percentage of the current school population is served in portables?

Approximately 20,000 students are served in portables. This amounts to 26 percent of the total student enrollment of 77,313 for the 2003-04 school year.

What is the advantage of refinancing contractual obligations?

The refinancing would move the repayment of this loan (contractual obligations) from the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) tax rate, currently capped at $1.50, to the Interest & Sinking tax rate. If this refinancing is approved, the M&O tax rate would gain the capacity to generate approximately $4 million. These additional funds would then be available to address AISD’s academic programs.

What factors will decide where the “undesignated” elementary schools in Proposition 1 will be located?

The locations will be determined based upon student population growth that causes existing schools’ percentages of permanent capacity to exceed 125 percent, taking into account city growth patterns, environmental concerns, and other factors. Currently, five areas have been identified as having potential need for an undesignated elementary school between now and 2008-09:

• Northeast, near the Colony Park area.
• Southeast, south of Palm and Langford elementary schools.
• Central, Mueller Airport site.
• Southwest, Travis Country site.
• Southwest, Bear Creek Public Utility District site.

What funding is provided in the 2004 Bond Program to address functional equity improvements?

A study prior to the 1996 Bond Program compared the classrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, and other spaces in each school to a standard called an “educational specification.” This study identified spaces in each school that needed to be evaluated to determine if they were functional and supportive of student learning, or if they needed renovations to make them better able to serve the function for which they were constructed. A total of $21 million was allocated in the 1996 Bond Program to renovate spaces that were not adequate to fulfill their function. The process of renovating spaces to bring them closer to the educational specification (standard) is trying to achieve functional equity. For the 2004 Bond Program, $39.7 million has been allocated to improve functional equity among Austin schools. This is almost a 100 percent increase in the amount allocated during the 1996 Bond Program.

What is the date for the 2004 Bond Election?

The date is Saturday, September 11, 2004. Early voting will begin Wednesday, August 25, 2004. See the back page for the complete Early Voting schedule.