By Michael V. Hannigan
CROSS ROADS — Cross Roads ISD residents must make a decision on a $4.5 million bond in May’s election.
Plans call for about $500,000 of the bond to be used for repairs and improvements to existing facilities and the rest to build a 29,000 square-foot gym which will double as a student event center.
Early voting will be April 28 through May 6, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the district’s administration building.
Election Day will be Saturday, May 10, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
During a public meeting Monday night, builder Ron Boone of Boone & Boone Construction Ltd. told the audience the district has outgrown it’s current 35-year-old gym.
“The district has no place big enough for a large assembly,” he said.
The district has an enrollment of about 600 students with nearly 100 additional faculty and staff, according to administrators. The current gym can hold 512 in the bleachers. The new facility would be able to hold 700 in the stands and another 400 on the floor.
Boone also pointed out that although the current gym has been cared for, it still suffers from the wear of 35 years of constant use.
CRISD School Board President Scott Huddleston explained it by saying, “What we have is a Chevrolet with 200,000 miles on it. (The proposed gym) is also a Chevrolet. It is not a Cadillac or a Mercedes, it is a Chevrolet.”
If the bond is approved, the tax rate in CRISD will increase an estimated .10 cents. Currently the tax rate is 1.0902 per $100 valuation; after the bond it would be 1.1902. For property taxed on a $85,000 valuation, that would mean an increase of $85 a year.
Residents 65 years old and older would not see a tax increase on their homestead with the proper exemption.
This is the second bond election for the district in the past two years.
In November 2012, voters rejected a $6 million bond proposal to build a new gym, as well as a new Agriculture Sciences building, two science labs, and new parking. The district has since used fund balance money to either complete or start the other projects.
Huddleston said the school board has brought the bond issue forward again to try and take advantage of historically low bond rates and low construction costs.
The longtime school board president said he believed the failure of the 2012 bond could be attributed to a lack of information and failure to communicate. So this time, the district is doing whatever it can to make the process transparent.
In addition to this week’s meeting, there will be a second community meeting at the High School auditorium 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29. Also, a community advisory committee led by Gene Bishop was organized to help in the process.
