Tuesday evening’s special meeting was only the first step as the Midlothian ISD board of trustees seek to address badly-needed facilities upgrades as well as a projected budget deficit in the millions of dollars.
The board unanimously approved the calling of an election on the Nov. 4 ballot to place a bond issue totaling $389.2 million before voters. The second step — the calling of a voter-approved tax rate election to address a budget deficit for the 2025-2026 school year — will likely take place this coming Monday during the board’s regularly-scheduled monthly meeting.
Superintendent Dr. David Belding went over what will go before voters in the bond referendum. Proposition A provides for the issuance of $226.4 million in bonds and includes the district’s ninth elementary school; capital improvements and renovations to both Midlothian High School and Frank Seale Middle School; buses; capital improvements to three elementary schools; and expansions and renovations to both the transportation and ag facilities.
Proposition B would allocate about $157.1 million for the construction of a new CTE center to supplant the MILE, which has been quickly outgrown since the previous referendum created the campus six years ago. The last item, Proposition C, would issue $5.6 million in bonds for technology devices.
Trustee Ed Harrison proposed two additional propositions that would peel off several of the other proposals items on the list, but that motion died for lack of a second. Harrison later voted for the original motion that passed unanimously, but stated that he only did so to ensure that the new elementary was on the ballot.
Harrison said he recognized that the need for the ninth elementary school as included in Prop A was vital. Harrison urged placing some items in separate propositions to increase the odds of Prop A’s passage. On the other hand, trustee Richard Peña advocated placing all items in one proposition in order to make the decision simpler for voters.
Julie Bergkamp. MISD’s bond attorney, said Prop A involves general needs for the district, but subsequent props must be specific to their uses. If a specific proposition passes and the others fail, funds from the approved proposition cannot be used for the other one, but if the general Prop A passes, those funds could be moved around to fund other needs.
Bergkamp reiterated the election rules regarding board referenda, namely, that the board can only provide factual information on the bond and cannot campaign for votes. Bergkamp presented a list of do’s and don’ts for trustees. Trustees are free to advocate for the bond on personal time, she said.
Tater Beard, a member of the MISD facilities committee that came up with recommendations for the bond vote, told trustees the committee had to be 75 percent in favor of each item in order to place it forward. “We were representing the community the best we could,” he said.
Last fall, a similar VATRE was overwhelmingly rejected by voters. Trustees have since promised to communicate better with voters the fact that the vote will not affect property owners’ tax rates.
All members of the board participated in Tuesday’s meeting. Trustee Tami Tobey participated via video.
