WHY I AM NOT VOTING FOR THE BOND    PART IV:

"Incredulous" is the descriptive word and feeling I have when I think about Katy ISD using PBK architects for the proposed stadium after seeing the mess this firm made of the stadium in Allen ISD. Even the superintendent of Allen ISD (who was hired AFTER the stadium was built) has said, "This is not a black eye for Allen ISD or the community of Allen; it is a black eye for PBK and Pogue. Absolutely."  (This quote is from an article in USA Today.) Lance Hindt, the Allen ISD Superintendent, is a former Katy ISD student, (and he played football!)

The PBK architectural firm has been used by Katy ISD to build every junior high and high school as well as many other large buildings since 1999. State law in Texas says that the school board may not go out for bids for architects (a flaw in our state laws in my opinion), but one would think that in over 15 years, our school board could have tried out at least ONE other architect just to see if they were getting the best product for their secondary schools! But I suppose those free dinners over the years make them obligated to PBK! KISD does hire other architects for small projects--in order for the Board to not feel guilty, they throw them a bone. EVERY local school architectural firm would like to have some of Katy ISD's "building schools" business, and it's not like there aren't scads of competent school architects available from which to choose. Spreading the business around would help assuage the concerns that many of us have about the hiring of just one firm.

The school board instead of going out for bids, must do their homework and weigh all sorts of factors into the process of deciding what is best for our school district. It is incumbent upon the Board to assure themselves and the public that their choice is based upon finding the most competent, honest, creative, responsible, ethical, and careful architect that they can find. I'm thinking that considering the track record of PBK over the last few years, our school board is guilty of not following such a practice.

For information about how School Boards must proceed with regard to hiring architects, I refer you here:  http://www.tasbo.org/files-public/training/workshops/2012%20BBB/2_construction_in_tx_public_schools_after_the_2011_leg_sess_040312.pdf

You may read about the actions of PBK in Judson ISD in San Antonio, in Corpus Christi ISD in South Texas, and in other areas of the state on this web site under "2014 Bond Election" and "PBK."  Also look at the chart of KISD schools and see how much the cost of our schools escalated when our District deserted the architects that we had used in the past.

When 100 architects in the Corpus Christi area file an ethics complaint against four PBK architects with the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, and all four are found guilty by the Texas Architectural Board of Examiners and fined, and each one is required to attend two hours of ethics training, let me be the first to say, "It's time to look elsewhere for another architect!"

In addition there are the activities after last year's bond failed and the school board the next month went ahead and paid PBK for the "design work."  You can read about that by going to the link to the research George Scott did on the matter earlier.

How would you like to be a member of the Allen ISD football team (you know, the one that was the 6A large school winner last year in Texas) and in your senior year, because your brand new stadium is being partially torn down in order to fix engineering flaws allegedly made by PBK, your team instead has to play every football game every week of the season at someone else's stadium? 

Puts having to play on Thursdays and Saturday mornings in perspective, doesn't it?