AgLA06 said:

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terradactylexpress said:

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$90m per high school is a crazy amount of money to renevate sports related activities AND then to ask for another $300m on top of that is ridiculous. This is how you get things like the Ennis football stadium or the Berry center. **** that

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Sure. And it's caused by realistic bond requests getting voted no over and over.

Every time you vote one down it's going to be more expensive to do the same work the next time it's requested. Facility is in worse condition and materials and labor are never cheaper as they were the previous time. Inflation alone year to year is a sizable increase on a 8 figure project. Then you get the material and price increases.

Add in our government playing with tariffs and no competent GC is going to give anything other than a highly inflated number so they don't lose money on the project that even if approved this month, won't be finished for several years.

So while the "fiscally conservative" folks keep telling themselves it's saving money. Every time you vote no and pat yourself on the back the next proposal will come back more money for less project. And the cycle keeps repeating while those vote no folks want to rant about the districts inability to provide needed facilities or "mismanagement".

I'll give you a real example of a small school building project that was quoted by multiple GCs in 2022 and now 2025. The 2025 quote for the exact same project is now almost 2.2x what it was in 2022. Nothing has changed except the people that held it up the first time have now been removed from leadership roles for costing the organization millions in the name of "fiscal conservatism".

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some of these "projects" don't even need to be done to begin with. It's not all upgrades and fixes to old buildings.

BSD said:

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The seven-member Spring Branch ISD (SBISD) Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, to call a $631.5 million bond election, with four separate propositions, to appear on the May 3, 2025 ballot.



I'm likely a no vote for at least two of these. I still need to do a little more research. Having these bonds add to the tax rate doesn't help, especially since I just went up 10% again. The annual additional tax burden for a $500k home would be $142.

Prop D really stands out to me: $72MM for Grob Stadium??? The bullet points says "The 73-year-old stadium currently accommodates 4,000 spectators. Improvements would increase seating capacity to 5,500." I've never seen more than 40 people in those stands. It is rarely used. I wouldn't care if they wanted to update a bit, but $72MM? Dayumn.

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Please update the Nat..... (swim parent)

HDeathstar said:

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Natatorium is a dump and is the only one for the district, but I would assume the schools could also use private business facilities in district.

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There aren't any private natatoriums. I can assure you of that.

I live in the district but my kids will never go to school there. I drove by MHS today and saw a sign for a meeting to discuss the bonds later this month. I can try and get a picture if anyone is interested.

I did find the SBISD page discussing the bonds in details. There are info sheets, presentations, and videos you can download or watch for the facilities and schools listed in the bond request. There are also 5 FAQ sections that probably answer a lot of the questions asked here.

I need to go through and read in detail about it before deciding. Even with my kids not going to school here, the school reputation affects home property values and indirectly other businesses that would be attracted to the area.

https://www.springbranchisd.com/about/2025bond/home

District facilities are old and need upgrades. Also bring all high schools to same competition level facilities. You can't use operating dollars for that so why not issue bonds?

Operating dollars is a separate discussion - it's a shame that positions were cut, but not voting for bonds wont bring those positions back. That's a separate issue and we should hold board members and district leadership accountable, but not by punting on capex. That makes zero sense to me.

I've heard the Natatorium project might not even move forward as proposed. In their rush to get it on the ballot, it seems they failed to check on the necessary permits from the City of Houston. Now, they're finding out it may not even be allowed in its current form.

Just curious, what would your ideal bond package look like?

For me, I'd be in favor of the district selling some land to offset the cost.

jcperez630@sbcglobal.net said:

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have rats running through the classroom during instruction

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Overall I agree that the middle schools should be next in line for improvements but this seems a little over the top.

But it is not. It's an accurate statement. Happens in the old part of MHS too. Students hear them in the walls and smell them when they die there.

Hyland
Bennett
Agnew
Against
Against
Against
Against

bularry said:

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HDeathstar said:

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Natatorium is a dump and is the only one for the district, but I would assume the schools could also use private business facilities in district.

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There aren't any private natatoriums. I can assure you of that.

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Rare to see Bonds being passed these days in Texas for Sports stuff.

Glad the Bond passed!!

Super excited for the new Nat for Spring Branch ISD. Both as a swim parent and official / meet host.
Houston area is severally lacking in number and quality of large Natatoriums that can host LCM swim meets, or run 2 SCY pools with ample warm up and warm down lanes, or WP tournaments.

I guess you could say private Natatoriums are Fleet, and DADs, they have outdoor LCM pools. but not really a Nat.

In talking with the Aquatics Director from Cy Fair ISD he said the new SBISD Nat is supposed to be larger than the Cy Fair Nat, but not as big as the Conroe Nat. With $78M I would think they could build equivalent in size to the Conroe Nat with some money to spare.

Done a few meets at WW Emmons and it is decent but cant wait for the new pool/Nat.

AggieMom24 said:

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I've heard the Natatorium project might not even move forward as proposed. In their rush to get it on the ballot, it seems they failed to check on the necessary permits from the City of Houston. Now, they're finding out it may not even be allowed in its current form.

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Aggie Mom24,

Any news on this? Going to be bummed if no new Nat..

I've heard through the rumor mill that the Nat will be located in the north parking lot of Tully. Most likely break ground in early 2027.

Mikeyshooter said:

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I've heard through the rumor mill that the Nat will be located in the north parking lot of Tully. Most likely break ground in early 2027.

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It's not a rumor. SBISD literally said that would be the location in a press release.

Quote:

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Proposition C, if approved, would provide for the relocation and rebuilding of the 50-year-old W.W. Emmons Natatorium, the district's competition pool, which was built in 1975. If approved, the new facility would be rebuilt north of Darrell Tully Stadium on the grounds of the district's athletics complex at 1050 Dairy Ashford, 77079.

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https://www.springbranchisd.com/news/read-more/~board/sbisd-post-board/post/sbisd-board-of-trustees-calls-for-may-3-bond-election

It will be at SHS - they confirmed at the last board meeting.