Sharyland bond fails — again, incumbents retain seats

Sharyland ISD constituents have spoken — Meagan Sullivan and Julio Cerda will each serve another three years on the school board, and there will be no bond.

Voters overwhelmingly vetoed the $250 million bond, which included three propositions that would have raised taxes by more than 19 cents had all three propositions passed. This makes the third time in six years that Sharyland constituents voted against a multimillion-dollar bond initiative.

According to the unofficial results of the May 2 election, 60% voted against Prop A, which would have dedicated $208.5 million to general facility upgrades and security modernization. About 61% voted against Prop B — $6.5 million in technology improvements. And about 68% voted against the $35 million Prop C, which was for an SISD aquatic center.

But even though the bond didn’t pass, the district’s needs remain, specifically in facility upgrades. Now, administration must figure out how to address those needs without an additional $250 million.

“We have a long range plan that informs us of where we need to be prepared in the next 3-20 years of major renovations or improvements or repairs to systems — HVAC, roofs, lighting, those types of things. So we have a plan that we’ll work towards,” Superintendent Dr. Elaine Howard said. “But the idea that any school district in the state or nation could achieve the level of renovation or improvement to existing facilities as we were hoping to achieve through this bond, it’s not realistic. There are no funding mechanisms for public schools to achieve that kind of income without the support of our community.”

Howard explained that Sharyland ISD is in the fortunate position of being a financially sound district. Whereas other nearby districts have had to close schools or cut programs, Sharyland has not had to take those more drastic measures.

But the money to repair infrastructure systems in aging facilities still has to come from somewhere. And employee compensation, which is among the lowest in the region at SISD, remains a priority for Howard.

“Bonds don’t give us money to give raises. But what it does is allow us to use the $1.2 million a year that we’re spending just to keep the systems going, to use that toward salary increases. Now we’re not going to be able to do that,” the superintendent said. “We will continue to be frugal and conservative in our decision-making so that we can continue to maintain the experience that our students and staff have right now, and the community in Sharyland.”

Despite the outcome, Howard remains inspired by the public’s involvement throughout the bond process and the voter turnout. She encourages the people to stay involved in district happenings moving forward.

“We want to have this relationship so that any future initiative, any future project this community feels informed and a part of. I don’t want anyone feeling alienated or left out,” Howard said. “We worked very hard to create this culture through this process and we want to sustain it.”

​TRUSTEE ELECTION

In Place 1, Meagan Sullivan earned 48% of the vote over her two opponents, while Julio Cerda earned 66% of the vote for Place 2.​

With their wins, Sullivan begins her second term on the SISD school board, and Cerda begins his fourth nonconsecutive term.

Sullivan said she’s looking forward to the next three years and has a few goals for herself and her fellow trustees.

The Place 1 seatholder wants to update the board’s operating procedures to ensure consistency and fairness in decision-making and processes. She also plans to make a concerted effort to help the community better understand school funding.

Although Sullivan was excited about her victory in the trustee election, she expressed great disappointment that none of the bond propositions passed. She believes misconceptions about school funding have contributed to the bond opposition in recent years.

“The general public doesn’t necessarily need to understand school finance the way a [chief financial officer] does but there is benefit to understanding,” Sullivan said. “These numbers sound really big because they are. That is a lot of money…but it takes a lot of money to operate a school and to provide what a good school needs to provide, and we do [provide].”

One of her plans for the next term, pending district approval, is to hold regular town hall meetings where she makes herself available to the public for a dedicated time to answer questions. And while she hopes to tackle the school finance topic, she mostly wants to create space for conversation.

“I don’t care if it’s three people that show up, those three people can have my ear and we can talk,” Sullivan said. “We got a really positive response from the community meetings for the bond. Let’s do it when there’s not a bond and let’s hear what’s on people’s minds.”

Cerda did not respond to interview inquiries. However, in a pre-election interview, he stated that his goals for his next term include maintaining Sharyland’s “tradition of excellence.”