Vote No & Rethink Bond
To the Editor:
RE “Investing in Our School”, March 20 FCR”: like Mrs. Holly McBroom, I spoke at the LGISD Board of Trustees bond election meeting on Feb. 9. Unlike Mrs. McBroom, I am not an LGISD parent, nor have I lived my whole life in La Grange. I got here as fast as I could, and I am blessed with a fine Leopard wife who did grow up here. She too confirms that LGISD was a positive force in her life.
I am interested in the success of public and private education, as it benefits the entire community. Therefore, and unlike Mrs. McBroom, I attended every public LGISD Board training and special meeting at which the building projects and their bond financing were discussed. Mrs. McBroom and I were each members of the community committee that met on a very compressed time scale as the final step in rushing this bloated bond package out to the voters.
Having witnessed this process, I will testify to this: you, the La Grange ISD electorate, are being played like a fine violin. The architects of this $90 million project (by “architects” I mean the LGISD administration, the Board of Trustees, and various boosters like Mrs. McBroom as well as the actual architects) have rolled up some true “needs” along with lots of expensive “wants” into only a single bond -- a pill the size of a Tide Pod that they insist you must swallow all at once, and in a big hurry.
Mrs. McBroom’s letter is basically a “spoonful of sugar” intended to help this medicine go down. Mrs. McBroom dismisses the C-rating of LGISD elementary and high schools as a mere “snapshot” that “[does] not begin to tell the full story” about LGISD. Be that as it may, it’s safe to say that the majority of LGISD graduates will never again play that clarinet or another down of tackle football, nor will they ever again compete in a one-act play. But each and every graduate will absoutely be called to read, write, do basic math, and speak English with high-school competence, and that’s where our C-rating problems will come home to roost. However her letter neglects to even mention the actual bond projects, let alone connect them to “strengthen[ing] not only our classrooms, but the future of our entire community.” It’s all platitudes from the “it’s for the children, education is important, our administration works hard, therefore no amount of your money is too much” school of public education finance.
If you have visited the official LGISD Bond website https:// lgisdbond2026.net -- and you should visit there, after all, you paid for it -- you will find that the projects are itemized, but without dollar amounts. Why aren’t the estimated costs of each bullet point shown? This is public information, presented on the screen at the 2/9 meeting. I think the omission of cost breakdown is by design, to confuse needs and wants in the mind of the voter. I also think the LGISD taxpayers deserve more respect than that.
Some of the proposed projects are, in fact, needful. The intermediate building and high school restrooms are in unacceptable condition. The high school science labs are in need of renovation. New buses will be needed and they are not cheap these days.
There are also some very clear “wants” on the list. Largest by far is the “Multipurpose Education and Activity Center,” essentially a covered 60 yard football practice field with some assorted athletic and vocational classrooms. It benefits primarily band and athletics, and by state law, non-academic facilities must appear on a bond election as separate proposals. So a few general education classrooms were added into the design and voila. It’s now a general education “building” and need not be separate. Renovating the 1923 building, while nice to do, is also a “want”, not a clear “need.”
Total estimated cost of the “needs” I outlined above: about $5 million. Total costs of the “wants”: just shy of $50 million, that is, ten times the cost of the “needs.” The rest of the $35 million that gets us to $90 million are projects that could be argued either way. Are you beginning to see why cost information isn’t included on the official bond website? Are you beginning to see how you, taxpayer, are being played?
So what to do? Here’s my advice. Vote NO on this horse pill of a bond. Then help the administration regroup and, taking their time, offer the voters several properly connected sets of projects and let the electorate vote our conscience on those. How can you help the administration do this? By paying attention and attending meetings as the process unfolds.