Bond vote ahead on RISD needs

All RISD campuses are at full capacity, expansion is needed to meet growth, and better security measures are being mandated by the state.

As a result, RISD will hold a bond election in May to meet these needs.

At last Wednesday’s facilities meeting, architect Lance Melton with Corgan Architects, hired by RISD to come up with plans for expansion, presented two options to catch the schools up to the expected future growth.

Also, the State of Texas has mandated safety measures which all schools in the state will have to adopt, one of which is a six-foot fence around every campus. In Rockdale the fences alone will cost millions of dollars to install.

• Option 1 calls for a bond measure of $30 million which will include safety and security updates and a renovation of the upper classrooms for second grade at the elementary school.

The intermediate school will have safety and security upgrades.

The junior high school will add eight classrooms, a renovation of the kitchen and cafeteria, a band hall addition, a two-court gym expansion, library renovation, administration expansion, site paving and safety improvements.

The high school will receive parking expansion and safety and security upgrades.

• Option 2 calls for a bond measure of $35 million. This will include the elementary school moving into the intermediate school, building a new grades three to five school to be built on the elementary campus keeping the old gym, expanding the existing cafeteria and kitchen and demolishing the lower part of the existing elementary school once the new intermediate school has been built.

The junior high and high school will have safety and security upgrades only.

Neither option includes any money for the Career Academy, which is the new name for the old hospital building which was donated to RISD last year.

TAX IMPACT— Ta x impacts for Rockdale citizens was also presented. In Milam County the average home price is $144,101. The following figures will go up or down depending on how much your property is worth.

• For Option 1 the annual impact would average $46.64 annually, which amounts to $3.89 monthly.

• For Option 2 the annual impact would average $80.16 annually, amounting to $6.68 monthly.

On Wednesday evening, after Reporter press time, the RISD school board will chose one of these two options and that is the one which will appear on the ballot in May.

Community members, many of whom were members of RISD’s Citizens Long-Range Planning Committee, gathered Wednesday at the junior high Commons to hear two options that plan for future growth at all RISD campuses from Superintendent Denise Monzingo and architect Lance Melton.