A look inside PSJA ISD's $60M bond election
This November, registered voters who live within the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District will be given the opportunity to vote on a $60 million bond election meant to maintain in good standing the infrastructure that was largely renovated, remodeled, and/or built from scratch after local taxpayers approved two bonds, one in 2008, and the other in 2010.
Those came on the heels of another bond, 2006, valued at $167 million.
Despite the Great Recession of 2008, as it came to be called, voters still approved both of those last two bond elections in the range of 65 to 75 percent.
Each bond, 2008 and 2010, was valued at approximately $104 million and involved a small property tax increase.
The $60 million bond on the ballot this November won’t include a tax increase.
If passed, the state will also step up and pay half, $30 million of the $60 million.
“It’s a win-win for the district and another benefit for our taxpayers,” said PSJA Superintendent Dr. Alejandro Elias, EdD, who assumed his position in late 2022.
The biggest difference between now and 15 years ago when the last bond was passed is the state of the district’s infrastructure. Back then, even going back to 2008, PSJA ISD still had some schools in session that dated back to circa the 1940s – Eli Whitney, Sorenson, Ford, and Carnahan, to name just a few.
Today, those schools have either been completely torn down and replaced with new brick and mortar, or completely renovated, sold to a respective city so a new school can be built on a new site away from commercial development, and/or remodeled and brought up to code. The number of middle schools circa 2010 was five vs. its current number, eight.
The athletic facilities are all state-ofthe- art.
Overall, the district’s infrastructure is in great shape, Dr. Elias said. What the district and school board are trying to do now by placing the $60 million bond on the election ballot this November is to ensure that those buildings stay in great shape moving forward.
The Future is Uncertain
If the state legislature succeeds at what’s currently on the table this special session, a holdover from the regular session, school districts across the state may have a tougher time passing future bond elections.
For example, the Texas legislature is attempting to cap school bond elections through various bills, including limits on election frequency, increases in voter approval thresholds, and restrictions on debt for districts.
Many of these measures were introduced or advanced during the 89th legislative session this year, and proponents state they intend to increase financial accountability and transparency for taxpayers. Opponents argue they hinder districts’ ability to finance critical projects and make their own decisions, answerable to the voter.
Some of the key proposals, which were also filed during the second special legislative session that began last month, include: Limiting election frequency: A bill (HB 153) proposes preventing districts from holding a bond election more than once every five years. Critics say this removes flexibility for districts facing urgent needs, such as growing enrollment or sudden infrastructure repairs. If a bond fails to pass, for example, five more years must pass before a new election may be posted.
Additional critics point out that would only lead to further erosion of school infrastructure.
Increasing the voter threshold: House Joint Resolution 31 (HJR31) would amend the state constitution to require a higher voter-approval threshold for school district bonds.
Instead of a simple majority-vote approval, as is currently the case, future bond passage would require a supermajority vote, approximately 67 percent.
Why Pass PSJA’s New Bond?
If you ask PSJA ISD Superintendent Alejandro Elias why voters should vote to approve the $60 million bond election in November, aside from the fact that the state will pick up half the tab, so to speak, and it won’t include a property tax increase, he will say: “Well, one thing, is that as a district, there are always needs, and especially for a district as big as ours; and those needs are expensive.”
The passage of time also takes a toll, said Elias.
“I know when Dr. King was here (2007 through most of 2019), a lot of the facilities were renovated, remodeled, a lot of the roofs replaced, new HVAC systems installed, but with everything, the passage of time takes a toll. And we know with the heat down here, our air conditioners are the first to start deteriorating, along with our roofs. So the time to get that replacement work done is now, not later, especially with what’s going on in the legislature, and the fact that the price of most things is increasing. Logically speaking, there is no reason to delay the work that needs doing now, or at least in the near future.”
The other part to this $60 million bond equation, said Elias, is the state’s monetary contribution. When the past bonds were passed in 2008, 2010, the state was even more generous than it is today, offering to finance approximately 70 percent of the bond, vs. the 50 percent currently being offered, but even half, what reason is there to turn down that much money? Thirty million dollars?
“So for me, the school administrators who tend to our finances, our financial consultants, and the school board who is the final arbiter in the decision to place this bond before our voters on the November ballot, it is a good investment for our students, and for the future of this district.”
PSJA has great facilities, Dr. Elias said, and to be able to maintain them right now, if voters approve the bond, and not let them degrade, will cost much less sooner rather than later.
“It’s a win-win for the district,” he said. “And the other part to it is, PSJA ISD will be able to lower the property- tax rate by half a cent.”
The Bottom Line
Elias said that “it’s a no-brainer” may be an overused cliché, according to some, but with regard to the reasons why PSJA voters should approve this $60 million bond, he can think of no better way to describe it.
“It is a no-brainer in my opinion. With this bond, I mean, like I mentioned, it’s to ensure that our facilities remain in tip-top shape, and at the end of the day, it’s for our students, and it’s for our staff to be able to come in knowing that the AC is not going to fail when it’s 100 degrees outside, that the roofs are not going to be leaking. So, for me and our school board, that’s the number-one reason why the district can make valued use of the $60 million.”
Also, Elias said, school safety and quality academics go hand in glove.
“One is the safety aspect, and two, it’s knowing that we have good facilities in which to instruct our students. We all want them to do well academically, and quality facilities play a big part in that equation.”
Also, according to Elias, PSJA ISD is about to pay off two smaller bonds that “we pretty much ended up paying out already. So, what we’re going to pay for this bond would be what we’re already paying for those two small bonds that PSJA is about to pay off.”
Meaning, with the voters’ passage of a new bond, PSJA ISD isn’t going to take on any additional “payment,” so to speak.
Bottom line, Dr. Elias said, these days, nothing comes without a hefty price tag.
“For example, the roof at PSJA Early College High is approximately 90,000 square feet in size. To replace that one roof alone, just that one roof, we’re looking at approximately $11 million, and the replacement costs are going up, not down as the months pass us by.”
Final Note: Two more things to be discussed, renovation of the district’s iconic Osodome, home to so many district memories dating back to the 1960s, and its athletic auditorium; but since this story is already running so long, simply because it takes some time to discuss why, in the district’s opinion, a $60 million bond is needed, look for a follow-up story in next week’s Advance News’ print issue and online this week at anjournal.com.