Aledo Bond 2019 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Bond 2019 FAQs
The District expects that the Board of Trustees will appoint an attendance zone committee in December of 2020. The committee will be constructed in a way that is similar to how the Bearcat Growth Committee (BGC) was constructed, with a diverse community and AISD staff representation. This committee will work, over a period of months, to review, analyze, and synthesize data to include up-to-date student demographic projections, housing development projections, campus capacities, instructional programming needs, AISD transportation data, and community feedback. The attendance zone committee will recommend proposed attendance zones for both elementary and middle schools to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will have the opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions to be considered by the committee. The District expects that the Board will approve updated attendance zones by the late spring of 2021.
The 2019 Bond proposal includes funds for improvements to two roadways in association with the construction of Middle School No. 2 and Elementary School No. 6. Middle School No. 2 will be located on Old Weatherford Road. This road is under the jurisdiction of the City of Fort Worth which requires that the district improve this road along the property frontage. In addition, Old Weatherford Road is in need of improvements for safe and reliable passage. Elementary School No. 6 will be located on FM 5 in Annetta. FM 5 is a roadway on the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) system, and under TxDOT jurisdiction. Given that the school will create additional traffic flow to and from the school, TxDOT and the district are working together to plan for FM 5 improvements, to include deceleration and turn lanes. The bond includes funds for roadway improvements. The district is actively working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and TxDOT on securing other funding and coordinating efforts with other landowners and developers on both of these roadway projects.
Aledo ISD’s Board policy requires the Board of Trustees to name District facilities. The District expects the Board to consider names for the new campuses in the fall of 2020. The District is committed to continuing to honor those for whom our current campuses are named. The Board will decide at that time how these names will be used to name campuses.
The only new school in the 2017 Bond Proposal was Middle School #2. Could the District wait to build the other projects?
Since 2017, Aledo ISD’s middle school (grades 6-8) student enrollment has grown from 1,312 to 1,596. In that time, the District’s elementary school (grades K-5) student enrollment has grown from 2,649 to 3,017. The functional capacity of the District’s five elementary schools is projected to be exceeded next school year (2020-2021) and the maximum capacity is projected to be exceeded in two years (2021-2022). In addition, enrollment at Walsh Elementary School is expected to reach 150% of maximum capacity in two years (2021-2022).
Given these student growth projections, and the fact that the design and construction of an elementary school takes approximately 18 months, the Bearcat Growth Committee made the decision to include additional capacity for elementary school students in the 2019 Bond Proposal. Waiting to build additional space for elementary school students would mean that elementary student enrollment would exceed maximum capacity at the District’s five elementary schools in two years.
If the Bond Election passes, Aledo ISD will begin selection of architects needed to complete the work outlined in the 2019 Bond proposal. For the selection of architects, Aledo ISD will follow the guidelines shown in the Professional Service Procurement Act found in Texas Government Code Chapter 2254, which specifies a competitively bid process for qualifications. Click here to view the code.
For Contractors, Aledo ISD will follow the guidelines shown in the Texas Government Code Chapter 2269 for Contracting and Delivery Procedures for Construction Projects, which specifies a competitively bid process for qualifications and fees. Click here to view the code.
Construction
No, Aledo ISD does not receive state funding for the construction of schools. Aledo ISD is budgeted to receive a minimal amount of state funding (approximately $250,000) during the 2019-2020 year to assist with the repayment of the District’s annual debt service payments.
If the bond passes, Aledo ISD would begin selecting architects and contractors in November to begin project designs. Site work would begin in the Spring of 2020 on the new elementary school (ES #6) and Winter of 2020 for the remainder of the projects.
Yes, school will be held concurrently with construction, as is very common in K-12 construction projects. The bulk of the construction that may impact students/staff will occur over the course of (2) summer periods. The contractors, along with the architects and AISD (owner), will work together to phase the work around the campus schedule and needs. This involves barriers, fences with screening and temporary partition walls to maintain separation from the contractors and students/staff. The contractors will have a fenced area with screening to house a job trailer, material laydown yard, portable toilets, and worker parking. AISD utilizes a third-party background check badging program for all contract construction workers to be permitted on-site.
A typical delivery schedule for a new elementary school to include planning, programming, design and construction is 24 months. A typical delivery schedule for a new middle school to include planning, programming, design and construction is 30 months. Delivery schedules may vary based on site and construction market conditions.
Proposed Elementary School #6
ES#6 in the 2019 Bond proposal has as a total cost of $35,858,000. This includes $3,300,000 for off-site infrastructure costs needed for utilities and road improvements. The purpose of the road improvements is an effort to avoid significant traffic delays on FM5. The project cost for the school, including all fees and furniture, fixtures, and equipment, is $32,558,000. Within this amount, the 2019 construction cost is $27,405,000. The construction cost for the anticipated bid date in the Spring of 2020 is $29,391,863. Given the fact that the current construction market is resulting in significant cost escalation, the 2020 projected cost includes an inflationary rate of 7.25% per year.
Click here to view chart of recently bid elementary school projects in the North Texas area.
Proposed Middle School #2
MS#2 in the 2019 Bond proposal has a total cost of $62,501,000. This includes $1,500,000 for roadway improvements along Old Weatherford Road, which are required by the City of Fort Worth. The purpose of the road improvements is an effort to improve safety and avoid significant traffic delays on Old Weatherford Road. The project cost for the school, including all fees and furniture, fixtures, and equipment, is $61,001,000. Within this amount, the 2019 construction cost is $47,964,000. The construction cost for the anticipated time at bid in the Fall of 2020 is $51,441,390. Given the fact that the current construction market is causing significant cost increases, the 2020 projected cost includes an inflationary rate of 7.25% per year.
Click here to view chart of recently bid middle school projects in the North Texas area.
Demographics
The maximum capacity of a school is having every seat filled in every designated teaching space for every period of the school day. Building and life-safety codes may be impactful on this number. Functional capacity takes into consideration schedule flexibility, average designed student-to-teacher ratio, and desired use of spaces. Capacity values for a school are determined by the physical space available.
If voters approve bonds to construct a new campus or campuses, approximately 12-18 months prior to the opening of the campus, an attendance zone committee will be appointed by the Board of Trustees. The committee will be constructed in a way that is similar to how the BGC has been constructed, with a diverse community and AISD staff representation. This committee will work, over a period of months, to review, analyze, and synthesize data to include up-to-date student demographic projections, housing development projections, campus capacities, instructional programming needs, AISD transportation data, and community feedback.
Like with the BGC, information about the attendance zone committee process and the committee’s work will be available to the community through the AISD website and frequent communications with staff, parents, and community members through social media, e-mails, community presentations, Board of Trustees meetings, press releases, and newsletters.
The attendance zone committee will recommend proposed attendance zones to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will have the opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions to be considered by the committee. Ultimately, the Board of Trustees will be asked to approve attendance zones prior to the opening of new campuses.
Please note that, if voters do not approve the bond, the district anticipates that elementary attendance zones will be redrawn in advance of the 2021-2022 school year in an effort to more equally distribute the student enrollment among the existing five elementary schools. The new attendance zones will be redrawn using the process described above.
In February 2019, the media announced that a Dallas-based developer had purchased a 2,000-acre tract of land on Bear Creek Road in the southern part of Aledo ISD and is planning a large residential subdivision for the location. Given the information that is available to the District, after meeting with a representative of the developer, and in consultation with the District’s demographers, the District expects that this planned development will most likely not begin to impact enrollment in the next 5 years, but may do so in the next 10 years. However, please note that circumstances may change, and the District will diligently monitor the situation to have the best understanding of the timing and extent of the planned development.
Demographics Cont'd
How accurate were the demographic reports prior to the past two bond elections in 2015 & 2017?
These charts reflect the actual student enrollment by campus over the course of the instructional year noted and the related demographic projections. The demographic projections are compared to enrollment on the October date noted, as this is the date the demographers use to make their projections.
Land & School Location
Middle School #2 would be located on land owned by Aledo ISD on Old Weatherford Road east of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. Elementary #6 would be located on FM 5 across from the Annetta Cemetery.
The amount of land needed for school sites vary given topography, access, availability of water and wastewater utilities, etc. In general, the following are the sizes of tracts that Aledo ISD pursues for future schools.
Elementary: 15-20 acres
Middle School: 35-40 acres
High School: 75-100 acres
The District is actively looking for property for new schools, and has engaged a real estate broker to pursue tracts that are both on- and off-market. The District is also actively negotiating with residential real estate developers to obtain donated tracts for schools.
Finance
What are the two components of the tax rate?
Public school taxes involve two figures, which divide the school district budget into two “buckets.” The first bucket is the Maintenance and Operations budget (M&O), which funds daily costs and recurring or consumable expenditures such as teacher and staff salaries, supplies, utilities, etc. Approximately 82 percent of the district’s M&O budget goes to teacher and staff salaries. Recapture is the primary means by which Chapter 41 school districts send local property tax revenue to the state for redistribution among other districts.
The second bucket is the Interest and Sinking budget (I&S), also known as Debt Service, and that is used to repay debt for longer-term capital improvements approved by voters through bond elections. Proceeds from a bond issue can be used for the construction and renovation of facilities, the acquisition of land and the purchase of capital items such as equipment, technology and transportation. I&S funds cannot by law be used to pay M&O expenses, which means that voter-approved bonds cannot be used to increase teacher salaries or pay rising costs for utilities and services.
If the District takes on more debt on the Interest & Sinking side of the budget, does that mean less money goes to teachers and classrooms?
No, that is not the case. As the graphic above shows, there are two parts to the District’s tax rate/budget. The Maintenance & Operations (M&O) side pays for the day-to-day operational expenses of the District.
The Interest & Sinking (I&S) side, also known as Debt Service, is used to repay debt for long-term capital improvements approved by voters through bond elections. Proceeds from a bond issue can be used for the construction and renovation of facilities, the acquisition of land and the purchase of capital items such as equipment, technology and transportation. By law, I&S funds cannot be used to pay M&O expenses, which means that voter-approved bonds cannot be used to increase teacher salaries, the number of teachers or other staff, or any other operational expense.
What types of revenue does the District receive in the General Fund?
The District’s General Fund is where the day-to-day operational expenses of the District are paid. In this fund, the District receives three types of revenues, local revenues, state revenues, and federal revenues. The primary source of General Fund local revenues is property taxes from the M&O portion of the property tax rate. Some of the additional local revenue sources are athletic revenues, fees from the rental of district facilities, and interest income earnings.
State revenues in the General Fund come from the Texas Education Agency with the amount being determined according to the public school finance funding formulas set by the Texas Legislature. Federal revenues in the General Fund are reimbursements from School Health and Related Services (SHARS). The chart below reflects the General Fund revenue sources for the current and prior fiscal years.
Why does the District have to take on debt for construction?
Much like an individual needs to borrow money to construct a home, school districts borrow money to build schools. Most families simply do not have the available monies to build or purchase a new residence without a mortgage. This same concept also applies to school districts. School districts simply do not have the financial resources available to pay for large capital expenditures, such as building new schools, renovating schools or building without taking on debt.
In Aledo ISD’s case, the District has approximately $20 million in the fund balance of the District’s operating fund. Each year, the fund balance is used to pay 3-4 months of operating expenditures (including payroll) from September until tax monies are collected starting in December. In addition to Aledo ISD’s need to use the $20 million fund balance for operations in certain months of each year, the amount in fund balance is not sufficient to fund the 2019 bond proposal constructed by the Bearcat Growth Committee. Bond rating agencies take the amount of a school district’s available fund balance as a percentage of its annual expenditures into account when determining the district’s “credit worthiness” or bond rating.
What has the District done to pay off debt?
When interest rates are low or decline, a family will often refinance their home mortgage to take advantage of these lower interest rates. Much like that family, the District has prudently managed the District’s outstanding voter-approved bonds. Whether by refinancing bonds at a lower interest rate, prepaying bonds before final maturity, or utilizing variable rate bonds, the District has provided its taxpayers with more than $34 million of direct savings since 2006.
Much more detail on these debt management practices and savings may be found in the report the District’s Financial Advisor, BOK Financial Securities, recently presented to the District’s Board of Trustees and Bearcat Growth Committee.
Since property values are increasing, why doesn't the District just lower the Interest & Sinking tax rate?
Rather than lower the District’s Interest & Sinking (I&S) tax rate, the District has determined that the most prudent course of action would be to prepay bonds before their scheduled maturity in an effort to save interest costs. For example, in February 2018, the District prepaid $1,275,000 of bonds before their scheduled maturity. This action resulted in $552,750 of savings for the District’s taxpayers. Additionally, in February 2019 the District prepaid $2,240,000 of bonds before their scheduled maturity. This prepayment resulted in $588,600 of savings for the District’s taxpayers. As mentioned above, since 2006, the District has saved over $34 million in interest costs due to managing its debt in this way.
Finance Cont’d
S&P Global Ratings assigns a “AA” credit rating to the District, defined as “Having a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. It differs from the highest rating only to a small degree.” Fitch Ratings, Inc. assigns a “AA” credit rating to the District, defined as “Very high quality. A “AA” rating denotes expectations of very low default risk and very strong capacity for payment of financial commitment.
Bond capacity is defined as the amount of new debt the District can issue in light of the District’s current Interest & Sinking tax rate and within the limitations of state law.
Based on market conditions at the time of selling these bonds, the District typically issues 30-year bonds. Much like a home mortgage, a portion of the bond principal is paid off each year. The final bond principal payment would be made 30 years after issuance.
No, the District does not do this. The District fully repays bonds issued for projects based on their estimated useful lives. Repayment schedules are 10 years for school buses and furniture.
This question may be answered by looking at the District’s outstanding voter-approved debt in a variety of ways. Many different comparisons may be found by reviewing the report the District’s Financial Advisor, BOK Financial Securities, recently presented to the District’s Board of Trustees and Bearcat Growth Committee. Click here to view the report.
Bearcat Growth Committee (FAQs)
The following is the list of the 38 Bearcat Growth Committee members and how they were chosen.
Arlene Shelton, Administration nomination (staff member)
Bobby Taylor, Administration nomination (staff member)
Brent Cummings, Website Application
Carolyn Rekerdres, Website Application
Chad Tregellas, Board Member Appointment - Forrest Collins
Christi James, Administration nomination
Dan Reilley, Website Application
David Nance, Website Application
Dawn McNair, Administration nomination (staff member)
Deven Jacobs, Administration nomination
Jaime Saenz, Administration nomination
Jeff Streetman, Website Application
Jeff Wade, Board Member Appointment - David Lear
Jennifer Gamez, Website Application
Jeremy Pruett, Website Application
Jeremy Thompson, Website Application
Jim Scott, Administration nomination
Kathy Fry, Website Application
Kelly Arnold, Administration nomination (staff member)
Allison Dearman, Administration nomination (staff member)
Kelly Dishman, Website Application
Nicki Dover, Administration nomination (staff member)
Lakeshia Jarreau, Administration nomination
Lauren Stockon, Administration nomination (staff member)
Glenna Loftin, Administration nomination (staff member)
Maggie Lozano, Administration nomination (staff member)
Mandy Wurster, Website Application
Matt Morris, Board Member Appointment - Jennifer Loftin
Mercedes Mayer, Website Application
Michael Fernighough, Website Application
Nick Lester, Board Member Appointment - Jessica Brown
Paul Heckathorn, Administration nomination
Peter Healey, Administration nomination
Robert Cox, Board Member Appointment - Hoyt Harris
Ryan Pipkin, Website Application
Shawna Ford, Board Member Appointment - Bobby Rigues
Sterling Naron, Website Application
Suzi Prokell, Board Member Appointment - Julie Turner
The BGC includes teachers from each campus, parents and community members. The members are from a wide range of professional backgrounds and also include those without children in the district.
The BGC meetings were led by Aledo ISD community members and Co-Chairs Christi James and Jim Scott. Having community co-chairs driving the BGC process as representatives of the community is an adjustment the District has made in the process.
The Bearcat Growth Committee is charged by the Board of Trustees to:
-represent the priorities, expectations, and values of the entire community,
-consider the needs of all of the district’s students,
-use facts and data to make informed decisions,
-recommend a program that meets the district’s building capacity needs for as long as possible and extends the life of facilities where possible,
-understand the district’s finances to develop a program that is fiscally sound, and
-recommend to the Board of trustees a bond program and the associated request of voters for a possible November 2019 bond election.
Informational documents from each meeting are shared on the Aledo ISD district website on the Bearcat Growth Committee pages. These webpages will provide all information related to meetings and information presented and will be continually updated. Click here to visit the BGC webpage.