Sanger ISD May 7, 2022 bond election announced

On Monday evening the Sanger ISD Board approved the proposal to send to the voters a bond with the election to be held May 7, 2022. Early voting will be April 19-27. The process leading up to this proposal has involved school staff, teachers, and administrators, current students, parents and members of the community. A School Facilities Planning Commission was formed to make a study of the current and future needs in our district. Over the course of six months, this commission worked with professional guidance to assess those needs and make a recommendation. They had six meetings and toured all SISD facilities.

The Commission agreed unanimously on the proposed bond which includes the following buildings: a new high school, renovations to elementary school, a new agricultural facility and an outdoor sports fieldhouse. The total cost of the bond package is $130,000,000.

“The items included in the bond are critically needed. Our newest building, Butterfield Elementary, is projected to be beyond its maximum capacity in less than five years,” said Grant Bowles, who presented the proposal to the board on Monday night. “Butterfield is currently at their functional capacity. With this bond proposal the current boundary lines for our elementary schools will remain the same. The change for students in Elementary would be moving all Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten to Chisholm Trail. Clear Creek and Butterfield would serve grades 1-5. In this proposal, Butterfield would not undergo any major renovations. Clear Creek would undergo several projects including adding classroom additions with storm shelter, expanded parking lot, additions to the cafeteria and kitchen, a controlled entrance to the building for security, replaced roof, fire protection system update and relocated playground. Chisholm Trail would become a Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten for all students and would receive a controlled entrance for security.”

The commission was presented with two options regarding the middle school and high school. The option to build a new high school, on land currently owned by the district adjacent to the current high school was chosen. The middle school would move to the current high school. The Sixth Grace Center would become available for central administration offices. A new high school would solve many of the current issues related to both the middle and high school. The science labs in the high school are now below standard size for high school, but are large enough for middle school labs. In addition, the new high school could accommodate the growth in CTE programs like the culinary arts, video graphic arts and other programs. This will provide wonderful benefits for our students, especially those not planning to attend a four-year university. The Linda Tutt High School would relocate to the current middle school providing them adequate space for continued growth with a functional kitchen, cafeteria, library and gymnasium.

The third major item in the bond is a new agricultural sciences facility. The agricultural program is the largest student organization at Sanger High. “Our current agricultural facility is both undersized and far beyond its expected lifetime,” Grant stated the board. This facility would include an arena to practice showing livestock, pens, wash and trim room in addition to storage areas. “Many of our students would like to participate in showing animals but we do not currently have pen space for those who do not have the space at their homes.”

The last major item is an Outdoor Sports Fieldhouse. This would house all outdoors sports locker space including both male and female in spaces designed specifically for the individual programs (softball, baseball, track, cross country, tennis, golf, football, etc..). “Currently, our students, especially our female athletes, do not have enough lockers. Many athletes have to simply store their equipment on the floor throughout the day. The space for showers and dressing is very inadequate,” Grant said.

Homeowners that are 65 or older can vote and will not have a tax increase because of this bond. For homeowners age 64 or less, home valuation of $100,000 will be a tax increase of $25.42 a month; $200,000 ($50.83) and $300,000 ($76.25).

“Further details of the cost to property owners and the amount for each project in the bond will be described in coming weeks. There will also be more discussion on the increased enrollment trends already seen and expected in the coming years. We will be having meet and greets, basically public forums to get the proper info to the public,” added Bowles.

Long Range Facilities Planning Committee

Brad Bessey

Britt Borchert

Grant Bowles

Max Brown

Sam Burrus

Rachel Corbin

Stefani Dodson

Bruce Elsey

Sydne Faulkner

Valerie Foster

Victor Gann

Mandy George

Amy Giddens

Debra Graham

John Henderson

Jesse Hunter

Tito Ibarra

Carrie Kates

Amanda Kish

Kristi Laird

Corbin McKinley

Thomas Muir

Mason Peebles

Caroline Price

Kenny Ruland

Ethan Scheffler

Lindi Scobee

Brittney Sheriff

Kyle Shumate

Rocky Smart

Rylan Smart

Carly Sperry

Rashae Stamper

Cliff Swofford

Heather Wellman

Jake Wellman

David York

Javier Zuniga

Table Facilitators:

Larry Beam, Jim Cain,

Cari Cockrell, Jennie Flaa,

Sally Herrell, Tony Love,

Larry Shuman

Grant Bowles presents the bond proposal to the Sanger ISD board on Monday evening. He stressed to the board this bond isn’t a “want”, but a “need” for the district. The board voted 7-0 to send the bond proposal to the voters.