Klein ISD's bond proposal includes a boondoggle
Klein ISD has been working on a bond proposal since last fall, and while the district desperately needs to address over-crowding, the proposal the district is trying to promote has a major boondoggle project in it: Instead of building two new high schools (#5 and #6), the district has now decided to build one new high school, then raze and rebuild Klein High School.
Raze and rebuild an existing high school? What an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars!
Initially, the bond proposal was upwards of $720 million, but currently has been tweaked down to $640 million, $130 million of which would go toward demolishing, then rebuilding Klein High School. And after the new high school (#5) is built, it would be used for Klein High students while their school is rebuilt! The new high school (#5) wouldn't actually begin relieving any of the overcrowding at other high schools until 2013!
Klein High is 45 years old and could use some remodeling, but it's not one of the district's overcrowded high schools. In order to best serve the community, Klein ISD needs to build two new high schools, and those schools need to be built where the new residential growth is. Currently Klein Oak and Klein Collins have the most serious overcrowding issues, because the schools that feed into them are in high growth areas. Building only one new high school will be not be sufficient to handle the continued booming growth in the district.
There is one other questionable item in the proposal -- $38 million to buy laptops for high school students. This is an exorbitant amount of money to spend with a highly doubtful return on investment. Laptops don't have a very long lifespan, and the district will face extra costs associated with firewalls, filters, repairs, etc. Or will parents be responsible for any damages to the laptops?
The bond proposal does appear to otherwise address sensible needs for the district (no $80 million Berry Center in this one!), but if the district persists with the plan to use 20% of the entire bond money on rebuilding an existing high school, the district could end up with a rejection similar to what Spring ISD experienced a couple of years ago.
Klein ISD superintendent Dr. Jim Cain and the Klein ISD board are seeking input from voters. Word is they have heard only from folks who live around Klein High School and who are overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal that gives them a rebuilt Klein High. If you live within Klein ISD, I encourage you to browse the links at the end of this post, and then let Dr. Cain and all the board members know where you stand on the bond proposal -- and do it soon. By March 1st, the district will be ready to move forward.
Houston Architecture Info Forum: Klein ISD Bond Plan 2008
Houston Architecture Info Forum: Klein High School #5
Klein ISD Bond Proposal (pdf; district overview -- light on specifics)
Klein For All website
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/13/08 08:21 AM | Print |
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