KISD USES THE CHRONICLE TO COVER UP A BAD BOND:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/katy/schools/article/Bond-issue-shores-up-expanding-Katy-school-6371670.php

Bond issue shores up expanding Katy school district

By Harvey RiceJuly 7, 2015

Updated: July 8, 2015 2:01pm

The recent ground-breaking for a new elementary school was the fifth start on a new school building this year as the Katy Independent School District struggles to keep up with explosive growth.

The 73,000-student district is growing by 3,000 students per year, many of them crammed into portable classrooms while permanent buildings are built.

The district, which has 60 schools scattered across 181 square miles, has grown steadily at that rate since 2010 and is expected to grow to 95,000 students by 2023, district spokeswoman Denisse Coffman said.

Katy, already the 10th largest school district in Texas, is building three new elementary schools, two new junior high schools and a new high school with a $748 million bond issue approved last year. The issue includes $50 million for upgrading technology, including Wi-fi and improved Internet access.

Some schools won't open for another two years, forcing the district to deploy more portable classrooms to meet demand while the new buildings are being constructed. At least 25 portable classrooms - which cost $93,000 apiece - are expected to be used, the district says.

For example, Wood Creek Elementary School has a capacity of 1,030 students, but is expected to have about 1,736 students by the 2018-19 school year. About 16 portable classrooms will be needed to handle the overflow, district figures show.

The first new elementary school being built under the most recent bond issue is expected to open in 11 months, the second in late 2016, and the third in June 2018, Coffman said. The first new junior high is expected to open in June 2016 and the second in March 2017. The high school is scheduled to open in June 2017.

A ground-breaking has yet to be scheduled for a new football stadium to be built under the bond package and a completion date has not been set, Coffman said.

The burgeoning district also will add 11 new bus routes and 23 special needs routes annually over the next three years. The growth will require 102 new buses, including 70 for special needs children, and 96 replacement buses.

The growth also requires renovations to six existing schools, including upgrades to air-conditioning, electrical and lighting systems and to plumbing: Cimarron, Golbow, Memorial Parkway and Pattison elementary schools; and Memorial Parkway Junior High School and Mayde Creek High School. Cimmarron and Memorial Parkway elementary schools are scheduled to be completed first, in August 2016, and Memorial Parkway Junior High School and Mayde Creek High School last, in August 2018.

The bond package also includes front-office expansions and career and technical education renovations at five schools, the price for each school ranging from $2.4 million to $2.6 million. The schools are Beck, Cinco Ranch, Katy, McDonald and McMeans junior high schools.

The six new schools and renovations come on the heels of a $460 million bond issue passed in 2010 that built six elementary schools, one junior high school and two high schools, all of which opened by 2013.

Mr. Rice,

If you're going to write an article on the growth of the Katy ISD, please make sure of your facts.  I know your work, and it's not like you to include such erroneous statements as are contained in this article.

You state: "The 73,000 student district is growing by 3,000 students per year...."

And, "The District...has grown steadily at that rate since 2010 and is expected to grow to 95,000 students by 2023..."

Actually KISD had not grown by 3,000 students since 2007 when it had an increase of 3,037. At that time with 53,762 students, a three thousand student increase was percentage wise far greater than it is in 2015!

In 2010-2011 there was an increase of 1,816 students, not 3,000.

In 2011-2012 there was an increase of 2,154 students, not 3,000.

In 2012-2013 there was an increase of 1,835 students, not 3,000.

In 2013-2014 there was an increase of 2,964 students, not 3,000.

In 2014-2015 there was finally an increase of 3,107 students, but as a percentage of the 73,000 that you quote, it is a much smaller percentage wise increase than it was ten years ago.

As for Wood Creek Elementary's "capacity of 1,030 students with an expected "enrollment of 1,736 students by 2018," may I point out that Wood Creek already has 16 portable buildings which hold 1,734 students! So they won't be "needing" 16 more! KISD spews a lot of bull, and the Chronicle seems bent on falling all over themselves to print it. The District, in my opinion, left so many students at that school so that they could get more votes for their bond.  If they would REZONE, that school would not be so crowded.

KISD has over three hundred portable buildings strewn around the district. They throw in more of them with every bond, and their announced price for them just last year was $125,000 (plus installation) not the $93,000 that you quoted. Who gave you THAT phony number?

With all the portables that they already have installed at schools, there is an additional capacity for 8,504 students as of last October (2014) BEFORE their one billion dollar bond referendum. That means they didn't need to build ANY new schools to hold all the students that they have and are expecting. Many of the portables that they already own are just sitting empty at schools on the east side of the district.  So much for the "portable" part of that equation!

They just included the building of new schools and repair of old schools to garner votes for the bond referendum so that they could have their giant stadium that they don't really need----but want for Katy High School. Perhaps you should have commented on the fact that those run down older schools needed repairing years ago--children at Memorial Parkway Elementary have evidently been drinking water and eating food cooked in water that has run through corroded zinc pipes for years!  Yuk!!  Makes me sick to think about it. What if your child had been going to that school?  We have a superintendent who obviously didn't care beans about them.

You might want to check out all those buses that they are replacing. Perhaps many of them do not need replacing. KISD just likes to spend money on new stuff.

Did you happen to notice how much more in the way of schools KISD and taxpayers got for the 2010 $460 million bond issue than they are planning to get out of the one from 2014? Why didn't you comment on that?

I would like to point out to you that the "explosive" growth that you allude to may not be happening any more. In an abundance of caution, I would at least wait until school starts to cite enrollment numbers. Housing starts and sales are down in the Katy area, in case you hadn't noticed. There's a "For Sale" sign on at least one house on most blocks in Katy. The Katy Economic Development Council is delusional.  The west side of Houston is declining in front of our eyes because of the thousands of oil/pipeline employees who have been let go. 

You might also want to be careful about quoting their "predicted numbers." Their demographer isn't too accurate. In 2006 she predicted there would be 83,418 students in 2015 and in 2012 she predicted there would be 69,826 in 2015. We had 73,000 in 2014, so no matter what happens, she's off the mark by a school or two!

Perhaps you should read Covering Katy at coveringkaty.com to get a realistic picture of the economic status quo of West Houston.

Next time you write an article on KISD, you might want to check your facts first by looking at my website: www.marymcgarr.com Look at Katy ISD/Elementary Schools where I have all these numbers and commentary on them.

Mary McGarr