Voting for all the candidates of political party, also known as straight ticket voting, only registers votes for a candidates for office. It does not register a vote for or against the bond and other propositions. This means even if you choose to vote for a party ticket, you will need to review your ballot carefully before you finalize and press “cast ballot” to ensure that you do not inadvertently miss the opportunity to vote in the ballot question or referendum. If a straight ticket voter presses “cast ballot” twice, without reviewing all of the non-partisan contests including bonds and special elections, they will have not voted in these contests.

The $992.6 million bond referendum includes funding for construction of new schools and classroom additions, safety and security enhancements, renovations to address maintenance and adequacy throughout the District, and transportation and technology.

During its August 13 meeting, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to call a November 6 bond election.

The $992.6 million November 6, 2018 bond referendum includes:

• $403.4 million — New construction, rebuilds, and additions
• $396.5 million — Life-cycle deficiencies and facility adequacy, including auditorium updates, orchestra hall additions, and turf and track updates at many schools
• $14.9 million — Safety and security upgrades and investments
• $10.6 million — Transportation
• $142.6 million — Technology
• $19.7 million — Future land purchases
• *$5 million for program contingency.

In the spring of 2018, a community safety advisory committee began meeting to discuss ways that Fort Bend ISD can enhance security throughout the District. Based on this work, the proposed 2018 Bond program includes funding for several of these enhancements, including $1.2 million for door locks, $3 million for a student ID badge solution and $1.25 million for fencing. 

The district has budgeted for these items in the bond as a placeholder to ensure funding is available as discussions continue and final implementation plans are developed.

As part of the Facilities Master Planning process, Fort Bend ISD worked with an engineering consultant to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all District facilities and identify life-cycle deficiencies. Technicians and field experts evaluated everything from mechanical, electric and plumbing systems to athletic and fine arts facilities. Needs related to roofing, kitchen equipment and safety systems were also evaluated to prioritize future renovation and remodeling needs.

As part of the facilities assessment, Fort Bend ISD also evaluated all existing schools to identify improvements that will ensure that students throughout the District receive the same educational opportunities regardless of what school they attend.

The majority of the technology funds will go to infrastructure improvements and the purchase of new devices for student instruction in classrooms. Throughout the last few years, Fort Bend ISD worked with our teachers and instructional leaders to determine the appropriate “classroom toolkit” for each level. As a result, the proposed bond includes new devices for classrooms and campuses at existing schools, including computer labs, a classroom Audio/Video refresh and lending libraries.  

While bond funds would be used to purchase these devices, the district would issue debt for shorter periods, so we would not be financing devices longer than their life span.

The development of the $992.6 million bond referendum follows an extensive Facilities Master Planning process that began in January 2018. Together with the community, Fort Bend ISD embarked on this process to ensure that the District is providing the best learning environments, valuable opportunities and access to programs in accordance with the Board-adopted Profile of a Graduate.

This Facilities Master Planning process helped to identify construction projects and other life-cycle maintenance and adequacy needs essential for the next six years, and led to the development of an updated capital plan. This capital plan also includes additional funding for safety and security, technology, and transportation needs. Throughout the planning process, Fort Bend ISD also worked with the Bond Oversight Committee, which is made up of volunteers from various backgrounds, to help develop the bond proposal.

Every school in Fort Bend ISD would be touched by the 2018 Bond Program. For a detailed list of improvements by school, please visit www.fortbendisd.com/bond.

School districts, much like other government entities, use bond money for capital investments that cannot be funded through the maintenance and operations budget. This is because the majority of the annual budget goes directly to instruction and support, including our teacher and staff salaries, with the remaining funding going toward the upkeep of facilities, utilities, transportation and technology. The decline in State funding has caused FBISD to rely on bond funds for new technology, and new buses. 

Without issuing bonds, funding is not available for capital needs such as major maintenance of equipment and life-cycle replacement.

Taxpayers with Over 65 or Disabled Persons exemptions have established tax ceilings on their homesteads and those ceilings will not be impacted. Homestead taxes are frozen for our taxpayers with the Over 65 or Disabled Persons exemptions unless the individual is currently paying below their tax ceiling.

Fort Bend ISD continues to experience growth in the northwest, southeast and central areas of the District.

New construction projects include:

• Elementary School 51 in the northwest area of the district
• Elementary School 52 in the Fort Bend Tollway area
• Elementary School 53 in the Riverstone area (or classroom additions at Commonwealth Elementary, Austin Parkway Elementary, and Settlers Way Elementary, if land cannot be identified for the new school)
• High School 12 in the southeast area
• Classroom additions at Neill and Madden Elementary
• Rebuild of Lakeview Elementary and Meadows Elementary
• The bond also includes funding for the design of Middle School 16 in the
  southeast area of the district.

Voters approved a $484 million bond program in November of 2014. This program included construction of four new elementary schools, classroom additions and renovations across the district, as well as safety and security improvements, new school buses and technology upgrades.

Sullivan Elementary opened in 2016 and Neill Elementary, Patterson Elementary and Leonetti Elementary schools opened in 2017. By the end of October 2018, all projects included in the 2014 Bond will be complete — with exception to the Career and Technical Education facility, which will open during the 2019–20 school year.

While a successful bond election would not necessitate any immediate change in the tax rate of $1.32, a potential three penny increase may be needed during the duration of the three-year program, with the earliest increase not anticipated until 2020.

Tax Rate (2010–18, projected 2019–21)

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Fort Bend ISD works hard to keep its costs of debt as low as possible. Active debt management and high property value growth enabled the District to lower its tax rate by two pennies in 2017. With a three-penny increase to the current tax rate, at $1.35, Fort Bend ISD would still have one of the lowest projected tax rates compared to other districts nearby, and with a lower debt per student ratio.

Local Tax Rate Comparison (2017–18)

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Taxpayers with Over 65 or Disabled Persons exemptions have established tax ceilings on their homesteads and those ceilings will not be impacted. Homestead taxes are frozen for our taxpayers with the Over 65 or Disabled Persons exemptions unless the individual is currently paying below their tax ceiling.

Projects include:

• Construction of three new elementary campuses
• Design of one middle school
• Construction of one high school
• Rebuild of Lakeview Elementary and
  Meadows Elementary
• Additions at Madden Elementary and Neill Elementary

Safety and security upgrades include funding earmarked for additional fencing, enhanced classroom door locks, a student ID system and police vehicles.

Fort Bend ISD’s enrollment continues to grow. Since 2014–15, Fort Bend ISD has grown by nearly 4,000 students, and has opened six schools. Fort Bend ISD currently serves approximately 76,000 students, and enrollment is expected reach 85,700 by the year 2027.

The average age of Fort Bend ISD facilities is 25 years old.