The Cleveland ISD Board of Trustees on Monday, Sept. 16, approved moving forward with a bond referendum for the May 2025 election. According to Superintendent Stephen McCanless, the next step will be to form a bond committee to identify key projects to be funded through the proposed bond referendum. The district plans to work with a firm to help prioritize projects, plan the bond, and educate voters about the facts of the proposed bond program.
The previous bond committee, formed for a bond that failed last year, initially identified 41 projects, which were narrowed down to five. McCanless said these five projects remain viable and necessary for the district. All of the previously proposed bond projects were focused on Cleveland campuses within the city of Cleveland and included:
- Renovation of Southside Elementary
- Renovation of Douglass Learning Academy
- Construction of a new Career and Technical Education Building on the former baseball/softball fields next to Cleveland High School
- Construction of a new middle school next to Northside Elementary on FM 2025
- Modifications to the current middle school to serve as a campus for 9th and 10th grades only
Additionally, the current ninth-grade campus (the former Northside Elementary campus on Blair Ave.) could potentially be converted into another elementary school or an early college high school. This early college high school could give students the opportunity to earn both their high school diploma and an associate’s degree, providing a head start on college and career goals.
The board is considering three funding options for the bond, each with different tax rate impacts:
- Zero percent tax increase, generating $140 million
- One cent tax rate increase, generating $150 million
- Two cent tax rate increase, generating $160 million
For homeowners with properties valued at $150,000, the impact of these options would be minimal—an additional $5 annually for the one-cent increase or $10 annually for the two-cent increase. For homeowners with properties valued at $175,000, the impact would be $7.50 annually for the one-cent increase or $15 annually for the two-cent increase.
McCanless was asked about the possibility of Cleveland ISD adding a second high school in the rapidly growing Colony Ridge communities. However, McCanless explained that building a new high school would now cost approximately $230 million based on today’s construction costs, making it a financially challenging option for the district at this time.
McCanless said it is also important to note that Cleveland ISD does not control property valuations, as these are handled by the central appraisal districts in each county where properties are located. The district can only set the tax rate, while actual property taxes paid by homeowners will fluctuate based on the valuations determined by the central appraisal districts.
Cleveland ISD has a history of proposing bond elections to address its rapid growth, but not all have been successful.
In November 2021, voters rejected a $150 million bond proposal, which aimed to fund the construction of a new high school campus to alleviate overcrowding, particularly in the rapidly growing Colony Ridge communities. This failure was part of ongoing efforts by Cleveland ISD to manage its increasing student population, driven by the area’s explosive residential development.
In November 2022, Cleveland ISD proposed a $115 million bond, which also included the construction of a new middle school and a Career and Technical Education (CTE) building, among other projects to address overcrowding. Unfortunately, this bond was also voted down, with 543 votes in favor and 1,005 against.
Most recently, in November 2023, Cleveland ISD proposed another bond election, this time for $125 million, focusing on similar projects to accommodate the district’s growth. Despite the need for new infrastructure, these bonds have faced consistent opposition, even as the district’s student population is projected to continue rising. Like the two others mentioned, this bond election also failed to pass.
The district’s future plans include a bond election in May 2025, with projects potentially focusing on renovating existing schools and adding new facilities to handle the increasing number of students.
Cleveland ISD has seen significant enrollment growth in recent years, further underscoring the need for new facilities and upgrades. The district’s student population has expanded as follows:
- May 2019: 6,749 students
- May 2020: 7,822 students
- May 2021: 9,164 students
- May 2022: 11,357 students
- May 2023: 11,826 students
- May 2024: 12,242 students
- As of Sept. 16, 2024: 12,444 students
Once again, this is an easy no. Fix the school zoning. The Colony Ridge development needs to form it’s own city charter, schools and taxing base. Splendora and Shepherd are a shorter drive with smaller populations and they have their own schools, city hall, everything. The Colony Ridge development should not be considered Cleveland. They’ve more than met the population requirements for their own city charter. This has always been the solution.
The reason the bond wasn’t placed on the ballot for November is it’d definitely get voted down during the presidential elections. During the May election, turnout is lower so they are able to influence the vote by having their growing number of school employees to go vote. As the schools grow, there will be more employees to vote yes.
You can’t just ‘fix school zoning’ – it’s part of their taxing area.
If Trump gets elected he has said he would deport them all, so they may not need any more buildings anyway. They have been saying they need more classrooms, but they built an administrative building instead. A few years ago they said they needed classrooms and when they got the bond approved they built a nice football stadium instead. So do they need more classrooms or do they just want money for more frivolous things? I would like more money. Would you vote to give me more money? Why not, I can blow it just as good as them.
The cost is minimal- we’d hardly notice.
Still- HELL NO! Isn’t going to be another cent of my money taken to help pay for the scum criminal anchor babies that have terrorized my neighborhood for the last decade. A couple dollars here, a drop in the bucket there- it all adds up and we are being taxed to death already.
Go buy some f*cking portable buildings like we had in High School.