A $4.4 billion bond will be on the ballot in November focused on improving our students’ health, safety, and college or career readiness in Houston ISD schools.
Most of the bond ($3.3 billion) will focus on restoring more than 40 of the district’s urgent-need schools to provide cleaner water, dependable HVAC units, and compliance with the state mandated requirement of single-point-of entry in the event of an armed attack. The rest ($1.1 billion) will be dedicated to ensuring our children – and Houston – are prepared for the future with investments in career-and-technical education programs, student-centered technology, and pre-kindergarten programs.
“School bond elections are an opportunity for communities to create a roadmap for their future. We encourage everyone to stay informed and participate in the process to ensure that decisions reflect Houston’s collective priorities and needs of our schools,” Good Reason Houston CEO Cary Wright said.
More than 75% of surveyed Houston ISD residents say they would support a bond that did not raise property taxes, according to an August poll by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. The district’s bond will not increase taxes.
It’s typical for districts similar to HISD to have a bond on the ballot every five years for campus maintenance, but the last time HISD passed a bond was 2012, and that allowed for improvements at the district’s high schools. A bond measure for elementary and middle schools has not been on the ballot since 2007.
An independent committee, called the Bond Oversight Committee, will be established to monitor the progress of the district’s bond programs and ensure bond revenues are spent appropriately. Residents can apply to be on the Bond Oversight Committee here. The committee will meet quarterly and provide reports to the public.
Early Voting begins Oct. 21 and runs through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
