Published: March 08, 2007 11:51 am      

Neches ISD trustees OK bond election for new elementary

NECHES — The Neches Independent School District Board of Trustees gave the thumbs up Monday night to hold a bond election in May for a new elementary school.

School board members voted 7-0 Monday to go forward for the plan — setting the bond election for May 12, coinciding with the May elections throughout the state. Early voting will be held April 30 through May 8.

“This will probably be the only time in our lifetime or career that we can build a facility without raising taxes,” NISD Superintendent Randy Snider said Wednesday morning.

If the bond passes, the $5.25 million bond will be used to build an elementary school with 14 classrooms and a cafeteria/cafetorium under the direction of Clahomb Associates of Dallas.

Currently, the elementary school meals are prepared at the high school campus and driven over to the elementary to be served.

“If it passes, the project would be expected to be completed by the 2008-09 school year,” Snider said. “We want to put K-6 under one roof. For one thing, it will help with the safety laws that we have to keep up with.”

As per direction from the board, part of the elementary campus — a building constructed in the 1980s — would remain on the site, with the proposed new facility located to the rear or side of the existing building.

“In the scenario that we are looking at, we would try to move the seventh and eighth grade to the older building and keep the high school separated,” Snider said.

Currently the seventh and eighth grade holds classes on the Neches Jr.-Sr. High School campus across the railroad tracks from the elementary campus. This would give the high school campus more room, Snider said.

The main reason for building a new elementary campus is to replace the original elementary campus built in 1935.

“It has structural problems that we are aware of,” Snider said

At a special meeting held last week, Doug Whitt, a financial adviser with Southwest Securities, explained to trustees how the bond issue might lead to a decrease in tax rates for district taxpayers.

“House Bill 1 lowered tax rates from the $1.50 cap to $1.37 this year and calls for a decrease of 33 cents to $1.04 in 2007-08,” Whitt said, explaining that if the district qualified for the state’s EDA program it could pass a $5.25 million bond with a debt service tax rate of 33 cents.

“That would make the total tax rate $1.35 per $100 of property valuation,” he said. “That is a 2-cent decrease from the current tax rate.”

EDA, or Existing Debt Allotment, looks at a district’s existing debt and pays a portion of the district’s annual payment based again on the need of the district. NISD has a cost per student of about $22, Whitt said, which is well below the $35 per student cap for the program.