DSISD's Bloated Bond Quick Facts

When the District recognizes that the current Walnut Springs Elementary Building is "fine." ²

When also accounting for Middle School sewage upgrades, that's over $39 million to relocate the WSE school that's "fine" and renovate the existing WSE into a new Admin Building.

In fact, the actual Administration Building cost includes the cost to relocate and rebuild WSE in addition to renovating the current WSE, which totals over $39 million, not $4 million. Regarding reasons for relocating WSE: "the opportunity to obtain a new administration building without the cost of new construction" ²

"Plans called for 68,000 square feet for the Administrative Building and child care facility. The Walnut Springs building is 110,000 square feet..." That's 42,000 sq ft of excess space! ²

Not only is the new WSE costing taxpayers over $39 million, but $15 million of that $39 million is for wasted space! ²

When the District already has over 170 acres of undeveloped land, on two properties, on which to build new schools ⁴

$3 million is nearly 10% of a brand new school!

After DSISD taxpayers just funded over $3.5 million in Technology Upgrades as part of DSISD's 2014 bond ⁵

After District taxpayers just funded over $20 million for new athletics facilities as part of DSISD's $92.4 million 2014 bond ⁵

High school projects include: "Addition of flexible space for wrestling, dance, and cheer"—over $3 million total for athletics.⁶

The District cannot even tell us where this new school will be located: "District spokesperson Dale Whitaker said [...] an official location for the school has not been determined." ³

Including a campus-wide furniture replacement, new stage curtains, new astroturf for two football fields, new "scoreboard infrastructure" at DSMS, resurfacing of two running tracks, an aquatic science lab, space for floral design, and more! ¹

As according to by Hays Free Press/News Dispatch: "The board will, at that time, decide whether to call a bond election in the spring, Drippings Springs Independent School District Superintendent Bruce Gearing said.
The potential bond amounts brought to an election while taking into account the district’s ability to take on debt are $76.44 million and $87.32 million, said Dan Wegmiller, the district’s financial advisor, from Specialized Public Finance, Inc, in his Oct. 30 presentation.
In the first scenario, the district’s interest and sinking rate (I&S) would stay the same at 35 cents per 100 dollars of a property value.
[...]
In the second scenario, the I&S rate would go up one cent to 36 cents per $100 valuation, according to presentation documents." ⁷