USE OF PORTABLES ON KISD CAMPUSES:

Katy ISD uses portables to supplement the capacity of buildings all over the District.  They are a useful tool when used properly.

Funding for them is always included in every bond and is present in the one currently being proposed. 

If one asks (through an open records request) for enrollment figures or simply a list of the portables that are in Katy ISD, one can get all sorts of numbers--none of which are the same!  I suppose administrators don't know how many they have, and for sure they aren't keeping up with all of them.

In one open records request the number of portables was 231.  In another it is 314.  In the latter number, portables that are not even at schools (they seem to be everywhere) are included.  But some of the numbers for schools are not the same. 

Here is the statement from the District about the use of portables (in a question and answer format from a previous bond election):

"Many of the campuses have portables, is the use of portables a sign of poor planning?

Judicious use of temporary buildings is part of Katy ISD’s overall facility plan strategy and will continue to be as long as the district is growing rapidly. Placing temporary buildings on an interim basis allows the district to assess growth carefully before constructing new campuses and to open new buildings with enrollments that are large enough to make them cost-effective to operate."

Something interesting which I have discovered is that portables in KISD may not be so "portable"!  And "interim basis" may be longer than imagined.

Once placed, these $95,000 (+ installation charges) buildings seem never to be moved and become expensive storage closets for our schools. 

It would seem that such use is an example of poor management of facilities, and that responsibility falls squarely on the superintendent's shoulders, as well as a bond committee that did not do its due diligence.

What's new?

A member of the current bond committee who had obviously fallen prey to the facilitator told me recently in no uncertain terms that "portables are left [to just sit] at some schools because the District expects those schools to fill up again at a later date." 

I just had to laugh.  This person has no grasp of the concept of a "portable"!

Katy ISD has $29,830,000.00 tied up in 341 $95,000 portables!  (And whether they cost that much to buy in the first place, they now cost that much to replace!)

And they want to buy more of them.