SOUTHLAKE, Texas -- With about 64 percent of the vote in unofficial returns, Carroll school district voters approved a bond package which will raise $208 million without increasing the tax rate.
Carroll Board President Christopher Archer said he was "really pleased" with what he saw in early unofficial returns and thanked "Dragon families and supporters" for going to the polls.
"This bond should allow us to make changes, improvements and upgrades affecting every campus and every student in the district," Archer said.
Carroll Superintendent David Faltys said he was encouraged by early returns showing 65 percent support and said he wanted district officials to be fiscally responsible to earn the trust of those who did not vote in favor of the measure.
"The capital needs planning committee should get a lot of credit for putting together a package that will impact students for many years," Faltys said.
The bulk of the bond, about $150 million, will go to cover "life cycle issues," including the replacement of aging mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, playground resurfacing, foundation and structural needs, upgrading the technology infrastructure and various remodeling and repair projects, including the Carroll Senior High School theater and the Carroll Aquatics Center.
Other projects related to growth involve classroom additions at each of the district's five elementary schools and a new fine arts center at Carroll Senior High to house band and choir.
The fine arts center, which would have about 700 seats, will be designed with better acoustics for musical performances than the theater space, which seats about 1,000 and must have room for drama productions. It also would have "a domino effect" in making room for more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) labs at Carroll High School and giving the journalism program more room at Carroll Senior High.
Because Carroll is a "Robin Hood" district, bond elections can help cover technology and long-term maintenance items that won't fit in the limited operating budget, Archer said.
Tremendous growth in property values allow district officials to raise the funds for capital improvements without increasing the tax rate, he said. The district keeps the growth on the bond side, while most of the m&o tax growth goes back to the state.
Carroll's last bond election was in 2009.
