Aledo Bond 2023 FAQs

The community-driven Aledo Growth Committee (AGC) was charged by the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees to examine the district’s increasing student enrollment growth data, financial information, districtwide facility needs and instructional goals. The AGC was led by community co-chairs Dan Reilley and Kelli Stumbo and included 47 additional community members and district teachers and staff representing a diversity of demographics and geography. The AGC held 13 meetings from August to February - adding two community meetings in December - and also sent out a communitywide survey to gather feedback. The AGC built a bond recommendation that addresses immediate needs due to Aledo ISD’s fast growth, and they also built a long-range plan for growth that they presented to the AISD Board of Trustees. Click here to watch the AGC's bond recommendation and explanation of the projects to the school board.

School districts are required by state law to ask voters for permission to sell bonds to investors in order to raise the capital dollars required for projects such as renovation to existing buildings or building a new school. Through this, voters are giving permission for the district to take out a loan and pay that loan back over an extended period of time, much like a family takes out a mortgage loan for their home. A school board calls a bond election so voters can decide whether or not they want to pay for proposed facility projects.

The Aledo ISD Board of Trustees approved the Aledo Growth Committee’s (AGC) recommendation of a $123,800,000 bond proposal that will be presented on the ballot as a single proposition and will include a 2.5 cent Interest & Sinking (I&S) tax rate increase on May 6, 2023.

The AGC, led by community co-chairs Dan Reilley and Kelli Stumbo, included 49 community members that met 13 times - with two additional community-wide meetings - from August 2022 to February examining the district’s increasing student enrollment, financial information, districtwide facility needs and instructional goals. 

The AGC built a bond recommendation that focuses on immediate student capacity needs at the elementary level, that includes additional and repurposed space at the high school level, that addresses the need for the district to repair, maintain and improve facilities as well as facility safety and security equipment as technology improves, and that provides additional funding for AISD to purchase buses, technology and land to meet needs due to growth. 

The proposition includes a new Elementary School No. 7 ($59.8 million) that will be located on district-owned property northwest of the new McAnally Middle School, additions/repurposed high school space ($20.2 million), replacement furniture for students in grades 9-12 ($5 million), safety and security ($5 million), technology ($6.5 million), maintenance ($5 million), school buses ($4.5 million), and land for future school sites - including additional high school facilities ($17.8 million).

The additions/repurposed high school space would include additional Ag barn space and a new multi-purpose addition and repurposed space that would create flexibility for programs like band, colorguard, cheerleading, dance, engineering/robotics, wrestling and other programs in need of large learning spaces and locker room/changing space. Renovations to AHS include restrooms, library, lecture hall, auditorium, kitchen serving lines, new flooring and paint in classrooms, and new paint and wall finishes in hallways.

ALEDO ISD 2023 BOND PROPOSAL

• Elementary School No. 7 - $59,800,000

• High School Addition/Repurpose - $20,200,000

• AHS/DNG Furniture - $5,000,000

• Land (including tracts for additional high school facilities) - $17,800,000

• Safety and Security - $5,000,000

• Transportation - $4,500,000

• Technology - $6,500,000

• Maintenance - $5,000,000

The election will be held Saturday, May 6. The Aledo ISD bond package will be a single proposition on the ballot. Election day polling locations include the Aledo ISD administration building, located at 1008 Bailey Ranch Road.

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.

The Aledo Growth Committee is a group of 51 Aledo ISD community members, parents and teachers/administrators from each campus that was appointed by the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees in August of 2022. The AGC was constructed from a combination of appointments by the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees, nominations from campus administrators and applications submitted by interested community members. The purpose of the AGC is to represent the Aledo ISD community in: the study of data related to enrollment, finances, instructional priorities and facility needs, constructing a long-range facility master plan for the district to address districtwide educational infrastructure needs due to rapidly growing student enrollment and aging facilities, and recommending to the Board of Trustees a bond program for a possible upcoming bond election.

The AGC includes teachers/staff members/administrators 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.

Members of the AGC are:

Nicole Adkins, Chris Briggs, Callie Caldwell, Mike Caldwell, Carol Caron, Carma Chisam, Ashley Davis, Niki Dover, Michael Fernihough, Charles Freeman, Kathy Fry, George Gamez, Lori Harbuck, Khala Hart, Peter Healey, Mike Hobbs, Cody Hughes, Jack Hunt, Asia Jackson, Cheryl Jones, Matt Lantz, Tamara Lawrence, Erin Lewis, Christopher Link, Emily Lyle, Jacob McDonald, Catherine Montenegro, Matt Morris, Heather Moseley, Jason Niemela, Hope Olsen, Shawn Poteet, Jeremy Pruett, Dan Reilley, Carolyn Rekerdres, Jamie Rinehart, Becky Rockwell, Sonia Rodriquez, Meghan Schroeder, Aarti Sharma, Penny Shelton, Ana Sherman, Eric Silver, Jeff Streetman, Kelli Stumbo, Dennis Thompson, Jeremy Thompson, Chad Tregellas, John Turnage, Aaron Valencia and Jennifer Watkins.

The Aledo 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,

• understand the district’s finances to develop a program that is fiscally sound and efficient,

• recommend a long-range facility master plan that meets the district’s building capacity needs into the future, and

• recommend to the Board of Trustees a bond program and the related request of voters for a possible upcoming bond election.

AGC meetings are led by Aledo ISD community members and co-chairs Dan Reilley and Kelli Stumbo. Having community co-chairs driving the AGC process as representatives of the community is an adjustment the district made in the process beginning with the 2019 Bearcat Growth Committee process.

The AGC began meeting on August 20, 2022 and has continued to meet frequently since. Click here to view the AGC meeting schedule. The meetings, unless otherwise noted, are held at the Aledo Learning Center, located at 1016 Bailey Ranch Road in Aledo. Meetings are open to the public.

During the AGC meetings, committee members have been examining Aledo ISD information provided by the district's demographers, financial advisors, and leaders of curriculum and instruction, technology, maintenance and construction, and transportation, as well as a school architecture firms the district has worked with on previous bond construction projects. They have also toured facilities and evaluated, analyzed and synthesized data about enrollment, finances, technology, safety and security, transportation, high school programming and facility needs at all grade levels.

Informational documents from each meeting are shared on the Aledo ISD district website on the Aledo Growth Committee pages. These webpages include information presented to the AGC at their meetings and will be continually updated. Click here to visit the AGC webpage.

Yes, it has. The Aledo ISD total tax rate has decreased each year since the 2018-2019 school year. With the passage of House Bill 3 in 2019, AISD has received additional state funding that has permitted a required tax rate compression, or decrease, of 22.71 cents from the 2018-2019 tax rate of $1.5950 to the 2022-2023 tax rate of $1.3679. Based on the 2022 average appraised home value ($407,049) in Aledo ISD, this tax rate decrease would result in a $833.57 savings. As you know, the actual amount of school taxes you will pay is significantly impacted by the appraised value of your residence that is determined by the appraisal district where your house is located.

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 $325,000) during the 2022-2023 year to assist with the repayment of the District’s annual debt service payments.

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, and is also subject to recapture (see recapture information below). Approximately 79 percent of the District’s 2022-2023 M&O budget goes to teacher and staff salaries. 

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.

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.

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 state 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.

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 is projected to have approximately $27.5 million in the fund balance of the District’s operating fund as of August 31, 2023, the District’s fiscal year end. 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. 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.

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. By refinancing bonds at a lower interest rate, prepaying bonds before final maturity and utilizing variable rate bonds, the District has saved more than $51 million 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 presented to the Aledo Growth Committee in September of 2022.

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.

Yes, each year the district includes funding in its budget for district police, security and emergency response planning. The 2022-2023 budget for these items is $873,795.

With the conservative assumptions projected for future property value in the District, coupled with only using two (2) years of property value growth, the District will be able to pay off the debt associated with this bond proposal if there is a future economic downturn.

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.

The state of Texas sets a funding amount or allotment per student for school districts, and local property tax dollars are collected to fund that allotment. If a school district collects more than its allotted amount, the state “recaptures” or collects that excess amount. The recaptured amount is then redistributed to fund other school districts and charter schools. If a school district collects through local property taxes more than the allotment, they are considered a Chapter 41 District.

Under the current school finance system, Aledo ISD is a Chapter 49 District and subject to recapture payments to the State of Texas in the General Fund. Aledo ISD’s most recent recapture amount was $348,258 in 2021-2022. Recapture is more commonly referred to as Robin Hood. 

No, the district’s I&S tax rate is not subject to recapture. The district keeps 100% of the property taxes collected from the I&S or debt service portion of the district’s tax rate.

Under current public school funding formulas, there is an inverse relationship between local revenues and state revenues. If local revenues increase, there is a corresponding decrease in state revenues. Alternatively, if local revenues were to decrease then state revenues would increase. 

The legislature since 2019 through House Bill 3 has been compressing local property tax rates in exchange for providing more funding for local school districts. Therefore, as the district lowers the M&O side of the tax rate, thus lowering local homeowners property tax rate - Aledo ISD has lowered the M&O tax rate 22.71 cents since the 2018-2019 school year - the state provides additional funding for Aledo ISD to offset that reduction in the property tax collected. 

If the 2023 bond passes, Elementary No. 7 would be located directly to the east of the Morningstar neighborhood, northwest of McAnally Middle School. This school - as required by the City of Fort Worth - would have two access roads:

• Nightmist Road - which you may have already seen dead-ends into the piece of property the district owns for ES#7

• A new road/drive that will be constructed as a part of the Bond 2023 ES#7 project that will run along the west side of McAnally Middle School, cross Mary’s Creek, and connect to ES#7. The entrance to this road/drive actually already exists and serves as the westernmost entrance onto the MMS property

The map below depicts these two access points for ES#7 should the bond proposal pass. 

Aledo ISD’s Board policy requires the Board of Trustees to name District facilities. If the bond passes, the District expects the Board to consider a name for the new elementary school in the fall of 2023.

During the bond planning process, district leadership, including Aledo ISD’s chief facilities and construction officer Chris Campbell, worked closely with architects, engineers and contractors to estimate the probable cost of the construction projects. This work included specifying the project’s scope and conditions, surveying architects and contractors, and engaging in costing exercises to determine an opinion of probable cost. This opinion was checked against recently-estimated and recently-bid similar projects and took into account the regional market conditions (including labor and material impacts), code requirements, estimated price escalation over time, and necessary design and construction timeline. The total estimate of probable cost includes the cost of construction, all permitting costs, contingencies, and furniture, fixtures and equipment for the project. The opinion of probable cost will be refined into a guaranteed maximum price after the projects are further designed and bid.

The new school proposed in this bond will have a life-cycle commensurate with all properly designed and maintained public buildings such as government office buildings, public schools, hospitals, etc., which is intended to be 50+ years.

The amount of land needed for school sites varies 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: 85-100 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 developers to obtain donated tracts for schools.

Old Weatherford Road (OWR) is under the jurisdiction of the City of Fort Worth, which requires that the district improve this road along the frontage of McAnally Middle School (MMS). In addition, OWR is in need of more significant improvements for safe and reliable passage. Several years ago, when the district determined that it was likely that a new middle school (what is now MMS) would be located on Old Weatherford Road, district officials engaged with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) in an effort to advocate for the needed improvements to OWR, including the needed light at the intersection of OWR and FM 3325/Farmer Road. NCTCOG has coordinated a number of participants in the improvement of the road, and is working to secure funding from various sources to complete the project. Aledo ISD has participated by contributing funds that were part of the 2019 Bond and by coordinating with the multiple other parties involved and led by NCTCOG: Parker County, the City of Ft. Worth, TXDOT, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, and multiple developers and landowners. 

It is AISD’s current understanding that the OWR improvement has been engineered and that land acquisition, environmental review, and securing funding are being completed so that the project may be bid in this calendar year (2023). AISD has partnered with other officials in our community to advocate for temporary traffic lights at the intersection at OWR and FM 3325/Farmer Road, and those lights were installed earlier this year. 

The student enrollment projections by the district’s outside demographer show that 5 of Aledo ISD’s 6 elementary schools are expected to exceed maximum capacity by 2024-2025, so the Aledo ISD studied and walked all elementary school sites in the district to create a plan for where portable buildings would be placed to create additional elementary student capacity in the 2024-2025 school year if voters do not approve the bond. Since the school district is currently growing at a faster rate in the north than in the south, the district would also re-draw attendance zones as needed using a process similar to what the Attendance Zone Committee underwent in 2020 to better balance capacity at each campus in the district. 

Based on projected elementary enrollment numbers provided by the district’s outside demographer PASA, Aledo ISD is expected to utilize 10 portables across the district (two classrooms with a restroom in each) in 2024-2025, which would cost approximately $2.5 million, paid for out of the district’s Maintenance & Operations budget. It is expected that 12 additional portables would be utilized in 2025-2026, costing approximately $3 million out of the district’s M&O budget. The cost of portable buildings includes the portable building itself, site and dirt work, ramps and fencing, technology equipment, utility connections, and more.

The district owns land to the north of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (located on Old Weatherford Road) and to the east of the Morningstar neighborhood that will be the site of Elementary School No. 7. 

This property is connected to the new McAnally Middle School property, and ES#7 will likely have access points from Old Weatherford Road and the Morningstar neighborhood. Currently, the site design allows for access from Morningstar via Nightmist Road and by a planned new road from Old Weatherford Road through the McAnally Middle School property. AISD and its design consultants are working closely with the City of Ft. Worth, utility companies, and developers in the planning of the site.

The district expects the Board of Trustees would appoint an attendance zone committee in December before the projected opening date of a new campus. The committee would be constructed similar to how the previous Attendance Zone Committee (AZC) 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 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. Trustees would then approve updated attendance zones in the spring before the projected opening date of the new campus.

Like with the AGC and the previous AZC, 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.

Please note that, if voters do not approve the bond, the district anticipates that either or both temporary buildings will need to be installed at multiple elementary schools and/or elementary attendance zones will be redrawn in advance of the 2024-2025 school year in an effort to more equally distribute the student enrollment among the existing six elementary schools. The new attendance zones would be redrawn using the process described above.

If the 2023 Bond passes, the district expects that the Board of Trustees will appoint an attendance zone committee in December of 2023. The committee will be constructed in a way that is similar to how the Attendance Zone Committee (AZC) was construction after the 2019 Bond passed, with a diverse community and AISD staff representation. The AZC 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 AZC will recommend proposed attendance zones for elementary schools to the Board of Trustees. The AZC will share information with the community through a website and will provide opportunities for the community to share feedback and ask questions to be considered by the committee. The Board of Trustees will have the opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions to be considered by the committee, as well. The district expects that the board will approve updated attendance zones by the late spring of 2024. Please click here to see detailed information about the work of the AZC after the 2019 Bond.

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.