BGC FAQs
BGC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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 are 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.
The BGC held its first meeting January 24, 2019, and met frequently through May 9, 2019. The BGC will also meet in August 2019 to construct a bond package for recommendation to the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees. The schedule is subject to change by the BGC. Click here to view the BGC meeting schedule. The meetings, unless otherwise noted, are held at the Aledo ISD administration building, located at 1008 Bailey Ranch Road. Meetings are open to the public.
Bond Overview
According to state law, the dollar amount of school taxes imposed on the residence homestead of a person 65 years old or older cannot be increased above the amount paid in the first year after the person turned 65. This amount remains the same regardless of changes in tax rate or property value unless significant improvements are made to the home. Individuals 65 and over must apply for this exemption.
Aledo ISD has created a webpage which details past bond programs. Click here to view a full history of these programs in Aledo ISD from 2001 to 2015.
Bond capacity is defined as the amount of new debt the District can issue in light of the District’s current I&S tax rate and within the limitations of state law.
Bond capacity increases as property tax values grow, bonds are repaid, and/or the District reduces its interest rate/borrowing costs.
- Bearcat Growth Committee meetings are led by community member co-chairs instead of outside consultants.
- AISD now employs a construction professional, the Director of Construction & Facilities.
- AISD is communicating consistently with the community about the work of the Bearcat Growth Committee.
- AISD will engage in a competitive process to choose professional service providers for any bond projects.
- AISD’s consultant architecture firm will not bid on any bond projects.
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.
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
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
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 location of new schools will depend heavily on the school sites that the District owns at the time that the schools are constructed. Other data that will be considered in determining where to locate schools include demographic projections for geographic areas in the District, roadway access and capacity, and the availability of water and wastewater utilities.
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.
The district currently owns two tracts of land that are intended to house instructional facilities in the future:
- 20 acres on FM 5, across FM 5 and just north of the Annetta Cemetery
- 135 acres on Old Weatherford Road adjacent to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
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 below 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.
What is the history of tax rate changes in Aledo ISD?
The chart below shows the Aledo ISD tax rates from the 2005-2006 fiscal year to the current fiscal year. Following are brief explanations of the circumstances contributing to the changes in tax rates. After the 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Texas Legislature mandated the reduction or compression of the M&O tax rate over the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 years for all school districts in Texas. The I&S tax rate increased in the 2008-2009 year to start repaying bonds authorized and sold from the passage of the 2008 bond election.
In the 2010-2011 year, the I&S tax rate was reduced by 13 cents and the M&O tax rate was increased by 13 cents to reflect district voters passing a Tax Ratification Election (TRE) in August 2010. As you will note, the total tax rate remained the same.
In the 2015-2016 year, the I&S tax rate increased by 16.98 cents as a result of voters approving the 2015 Bond Program (7.31 cents) and the elimination of the TRE “Tax Swap” subsidy (9.67 cents).
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.
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
No, the District does not do this. The District fully repays bonds issued for projects based on their estimated useful lives. Repayment schedules are five years for technology items and 10 years for technology infrastructure items and school buses.
Bond funds can be used to pay for new buildings, additions and renovations to existing facilities, land acquisitions, technology infrastructure, buses and equipment for new or existing buildings. State law prohibits the district from using bond funds for salaries or operating costs such as utilities, instructional materials, fuel and insurance.
No. Bond funds from a successful bond election may only be used for the construction/renovation of facilities, the acquisition of land, and the purchase of capital items such as equipment, technology, and school buses. Bond funds may not be used to pay for M&O expenses, the day-to-day operational expenses of the District, including teacher salaries, new teaching positions, utilities, fuel, classroom supplies, etc.
The bond rating that a rating agency assigns a school district is an indication of the credit worthiness of the District. Among the items the rating agencies will review are the following: the district’s financial statements and audit reports, property tax values, composition of the property tax base, and property tax value changes, any positive/negative changes impacting the major employers in the District, and the length of time the Superintendent and Senior Administrative Staff have worked in the District.
S&P Global Ratings assigns a “AA” credit rating to the District, defined as “Having a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. The credit rating increased in April 2019 based on the overall financial condition of Aledo ISD. 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 commitments." The credit rating increased in April 2019 based on the overall financial condition of Aledo ISD.
Construction
In the fall of 2018, the Aledo ISD Administration and Board of Trustees created the District’s first Director of Facilities & Construction position. The Administration and Board created the position so that Aledo ISD would have a construction professional on staff to serve the facility needs of the rapidly growing student population, and to represent, above all else, the interests of the Aledo ISD students, staff, and community. Tyler Boswell was hired by the Board of Trustees in November of 2018, and he leads and coordinates all facility planning and construction in the District, including the planning and implementation of bond programs. Mr. Boswell has more than 20 years of experience in leading all phases of construction projects and most recently worked in Arlington ISD as a project manager supervising 15 bond projects.
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.
Stay Informed
A great way for community members to stay connected with all messages from Aledo ISD is by downloading the district's mobile app. Aledo ISD pushes district-wide messages and important alerts out via the notifications function inside the app. This is the best way to get messages from the Superintendent and important alerts. The free app is available in the App Store and Google Play.