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Cumby ISD Superintendent Shelly Slaughter speaks at a public forum about the school’s upcoming bond election. Staff photo by Taylor Nye
$6.2 million would go towards new facilties
Education
Nearly 60 community members gathered Thursday, Oct. 17 as part of a public forum on Cumby ISD’s proposed bond election on Nov. 5 for $6.2 million to fund repairs to the school.
Proposed projects coming out of the bond for the elementary school include interior renovations to the elementary school, an elementary school addition of eight classrooms, expanding and renovating the cafeteria, a single, secured entryway to the elementary school and an enclosed secure elementary playground, according to published materials.
For the high school, Cumby ISD proposes a new agriculture facility, a football field relocation with a gravel track, renovations to the career and technology classroom and adding additional parking, according to published materials.
In total, Cumby ISD plans to add three brand new buildings, Superintendent Shelly Slaughter told the group.
“The major purpose is safety and security,” Slaughter said. “This is at the forefront of all of this.”
According to Slaughter, the school will prioritize security by first updating the elementary’s secure entryway, enclosing the playground, relocating the football field and adding a track.
“The addition of a track would allow a safe area for students to practice,” Slaughter said. “Currently city streets are used as a track.”
Another issue, according to the board, is spaces that are not accessibility compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We’re very limited in that right now,” Slaughter said. “Moving and relocating would be big… so that’s a huge thing that needs to be fixed.”
The school has also completed a master plan up to the year 2030, which includes adding new concessions for the football field and building a new high school so the current high school can be used as a junior high school.
This bond issuance will raise taxes to $1.56, according to Hopkins and Hunt County tax data. Based on calculations, on a $100,000 home taxes would increase approximately $22.56 per month or approximately $270.66 annually.
The school estimates those within their tax base will contribute from $90.22 to $631.54 annually if the bond passes depending upon their individual home value, with those over 65 being exempt from the tax according to state law.
School board member Jason Hudson told the News-Telegram one of the criticisms he has heard from the community is some may not believe the tax levied is sufficient for the school.
“Bond capacity is what the taxpayers can handle,” Slaughter told the community forum. “That maxes the school out to the $1.56.”
School bond rates are set by the state based on several factors, including local home value, unemployment rate and annual income of the tax base, according to the Texas Office of the Comptroller.
“The reason this time was chosen for the bond was the longer you wait, the more things cost and the less you get,” Slaughter said. “That’s a huge reason the board decided to move forward with the bond now, because even waiting until 2020 the cost would raise tremendously.”
The facilities committee provided inputs, Slaughter said, as to the conditions of the school.
“It’s an honest time to give a good assessment of our facilities and bring in other people that have those expertise and make sure that what we’re doing is a good plan for our taxpayers,” board member David Tremor said.
“We’ve tried being conservative for the tax dollar,” Hudson said. “If the taxpayers do approve this, this will only be the second bond in school history.”
Cumby ISD previously issued a bond election and won such an election in 2000, which helped finance the building of the current high school, according to Hudson.
According to the Texas Office of the Comptroller, in the year 2019 there are 1352 bonds outstanding by Texas schools. According to Dr. Glenn Hambrick, a member of the citizen audience and a retired superintendent from Carthage, his school was responsible for five such bonds to fund improvements to their school.
“There are over 100 a year being passed to keep up with the times,” Hudson said. “We’re a smaller school and we feel like this is a good time for us.”