“Our kids are the winners tonight,” Superintendent Beto Gonzalez said. “It was so difficult for the board to come together to file for the bond. It was strictly based on the needs of our students, and for the community to step forward to get this bond passed overwhelmingly, I feel that is a vote of confidence for the district and this administration.
“We are going to work arduously to make sure the community’s vote for this bond will not be in vain.”
The bond will pay for classroom technology upgrades, additional science labs at the middle school and high school level, a new ag science facility, and renovations to the Temple High School Auditorium.
Early voting showed 702 voted for the bond and 466 against.
About 8 percent of the 31,001 registered voters in the district cast ballots, said Rickie Autrey, supervisor of voter registration.
The bond was proposed to upgrade classrooms and supply fine arts and agriculture students with better facilities. With the state requiring all high school students to take a fourth year of science, there is a need for more classroom space.
At the middle school level, teachers complained about not having a lab table for every student. Most middle school science labs in the district only have a sink and lab station at the front of the classroom for teachers to use.
Last year, the land where the old Temple High School ag farm was located was sold, making it necessary to find a new home for the district’s show animals. Temporary pens were installed inside a Temple school district storage warehouse, but last summer the board committed to finding a more permanent solution.
The high school auditorium has hosted thousands of assemblies over its 40-year history, but administrators say it is starting to fall apart and lacks the technical features and acoustics for quality productions. The bond will pay for refurbished seating, a new orchestra shell, a set fly system, new sound and light equipment and ceiling renovations.
The bond will add $5,400 in new technology to 600 classrooms across the district. Improvements like a ceiling-mounted LCD projector, tablet laptop computer, and a high-definition document camera would become available to every teacher and student.
The bond will add roughly 8 cents to the property tax rate.
Gonzalez said he expects the district to have much of the construction done - especially the technology aspect - in a year. The district’s long-range plan calls for future bond elections and Gonzalez said efforts will be made soon to gauge community support for the next installment in 16 to 24 months.The last time Temple attempted a bond election was in 2003. Each item on that $104.8 million bond package was voted down - 3,772 to 1,122 on the elementary school proposition; 3,852 to 1,031 on the middle school proposition; and 3,703 to 1,178 on the high school proposition.
Passed on Saturday were:
Science facilities at Temple High School: Three new labs and six new classrooms; 11,400 square feet. $2.5 million.
Science facilities at Lamar Middle School, Travis Middle School and Bonham Middle School: Each school would get two new labs and four new classrooms; 8,000 square feet. $1.7 million per school.
Ag facility: Swine barn, cattle barn, covered pavilion, storage, classroom space; 16,400 square feet. $1.6 million.
Auditorium renovation: Sound system, lighting, fly system, refurbish seating, sound booth, acoustic tuning, orchestra shell.
Classrooms attached to the auditorium will be renovated. $3.62 million.
Technology: Wireless overlay, ceiling-mounted projector, document camera, PC tablet, lockable cart for 600 classrooms in the district. $5,300 per classroom. $3.16 million.
Various fees: Architect, engineering, civil fees, materials testing, project inflation, project contingencies. $3.7 million.
kchandler@temple-telegram.com
