NISD Board of Trustees unanimously approves $848.91 million bond for May 5 ballot

SAN ANTONIO – The Northside Independent School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Tuesday to place an $848.91 million bond on the May 5 ballot.

The majority of the money, roughly 67 percent, would go to improve existing schools, addressing everything from infrastructure, upgrades and repairs to transportation, and technology.

"In Northside, of our 110 facilities, a little more than half of them are 20 years old or older," said Barry Perez, NISD spokesman. "And as any homeowner knows, as a house ages, your certainly have those maintenance and repair issues, and our schools are certainly no different."

"I think it's well-needed, especially these older schools, because this school, I mean, I have friends that went to school here," said Kelly Dix, a parent of a child at Leon Valley Elementary.

In addition to addressing the aging schools, highlights of the bond include building bullet-resistant security lobbies at 44 elementary schools, adding and improving campus technology, replacing air conditioning and heating infrastructure, providing shade structures on all elementary campus playgrounds, and the addition of a new magnet school program on the Marshall High School campus.

Four new schools, however, are also in the proposal, including a new high school.

The proposed location for the high school would be somewhere around the Galm Road Area, where there has been a lot of growth.

"When we look geographically at a map, we have to look where are those pockets of growth taking place?" Perez said. "So those areas of growth truly do drive the location for those proposed schools."

For the average home valued at just under $219,000, a resident can expect to see a tax increase of $2 next year and about $20 by 2025.

Here's a break down on the major elements of the bond proposal:

The district's website shows the call for the bond election follows an extensive study and consideration by a 250-member districtwide Citizens' Bond Committee.

The Citizens' Bond Committee was comprised of hundreds of parents, senior citizens, students, business representatives, taxpayers, teachers, and other staff who met for seven weeks to discuss the needs of the district as well as initiatives to upgrade the aging schools.

For more information on the 2018 bond, click here.