Bridgeport committee to recommend $145 million bond

RUNNING IT BACK — BISD’s Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee will recommend a $145 million bond to the school board Monday at noon. 
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Wise County Messenger
By Brendan Marchand 
August 04, 2023

Bridgeport ISD’s Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee (LRFPC) met for the final time Thursday in preparation to make a $145 million, multi-proposition facilities bond recommendation to the school board. The bond recommendation is approximately $40 million cheaper than the failed May 2023 bond.

The meeting was led by LRFPC co-facilitators Susan Coffman and David Lawson, and BISD Superintendent Amy Ellis. Coffman and Lawson outlined the projects that they will recommend to the school board at a special called meeting Monday at noon.

The recommendations that the committee is prepared to bring to the school board include:

Proposition A – Renovations, new elementary, CTE, land ($128 million)

• Bridgeport Middle School renovations/additions
• Safety and security upgrades district-wide
• Maintenance/capital improvements for aging facilities and systems
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) improvements
• Replacement intermediate school: new elementary school No. 2
• High school fine arts improvements and equipment
• High school auditorium
• School bus replacement
• Land for future school sites

Proposition B – Renovations to athletics facilities ($11 million)

• Bull Memorial Stadium renovations (restrooms, concessions, turf replacement)
• Tennis improvements (courts, lights, restrooms)
• Softball/baseball fields (install turf)

Proposition C – Technology ($6 million)

•  Provide classroom devices and technology infrastructure replacements and upgrades

The bond recommendation comes off the heels of the May bond election that voters turned down by a margin of 720 to 553, or 57 to 43 percent. 

However, in a survey sent to parents and voters across the district following the election, 84 percent of the respondents indicated that there was still a need for facilities improvements. Over 50 percent said they would have likely voted for a bond up to $150 million.

“It’s definitely very obvious that we still have these needs, and the community recognizes that,” Coffman said. “The highest approval rating from the survey regarding the May bond package was for maintenance and aging facilities (88 percent), safety and security projects, CTE projects and projects to address our agricultural program.”

Coffman also said that voters indicated they did not like the single-proposition bond, and they believed the overall tax impact on the average homeowner was too high. Ellis added that during the May election, the LRFPC “strayed away” from addressing the financial impacts of the bond, but the current committee will take a different approach.

“This potential bond will not impact taxpayers all at once, because we will not issue them all once – it would be over the next few years that we are able to sell $145 million worth of bonds,” she said. “I think that we can get that $128 million [Proposition A] and I think that we can get the whole $145 million, but that’s only because of the changes that our state legislature has approved for a constitutional amendment election at the same time as the bond election,” Steve Holt added.

In the previous election cycle, the LRFPC made a strong push to highlight the potential growth that is coming to Bridgeport. While that growth is still expected by city and school demographers, the committee members said they are more focused on the immediate facilities needs of the district.

“We know that the growth is coming, but whether it actually comes or not, these [recommendations] are still needs that we need to have addressed,” committee member Chris Heasley said. “And I’ll be honest, I think part of that growth coming is going to be dependent on this bond passing or not. I think it will help [the growth] tremendously if it passes, but we need it no matter what,” Lawson added.

If the BISD school board chooses to call for a bond at the Monday meeting, the referendum will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.