By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

NEDERLAND — The Nederland Independent School District board of trustees will visit all campuses over the few weeks to provide information to voters about the coming bond election.

The tour will begin March 18 with the first meeting at Nederland High School.

The district hosted a luncheon this week to inform media about the dates and discuss the district’s plan to be transparent leading up to the bond.

A Citizens Advisory Committee formed in September for the purpose of touring the district’s campuses and accessing their needs. Over the course of six months, the group ranged between 40 and 100 members, depending on the meeting, met at the campuses they were touring along with district-hired consultant Robert Nicks.

The group of Nederland voters often met for more than three hours, discussing issues with the campuses, talking to architects and coming up with potential proposals for bonds. At each meeting, the majority of the committee reiterated what they believed was a necessity for a new campus, but sometimes split on which campus or campuses should be rebuilt.

The final two meetings focused largely on a survey the committee designed, which was presented to the community.

Assistant Superintendent for Personnel & Auxillary Services Michael Laird said the use of a survey was new and the board of trustees used solely the committees’ recommendations in the past to form bonds. That approach might explain why bonds for new buildings did poorly in 2009 and 2012.

All of the projects surveyed positively, with more than 50 percent approval, but two projects showed risk due to weakness (new high school at $82.7 million and athletic program upgrades at $16.9 million). Although a new high school surveyed slightly lower than four new elementary schools, the CAC decided to recommend the new high school and along upgrades to the elementary schools, citing that 33 percent of survey takers indicated they wanted either choice.

According to the survey, 15 percent of respondents rejected any new facilities and between 5- 10 percent rejected any new building or upgrades.

Since the board voted for a bond election, Superintendent Robin Perez visited the campuses to inform the district’s employees as to what is acceptable by law. It is illegal for NISD employees to use school time or resources to advocate for or against the bond. For instance, an NISD employee should not wear a shirt for or against the bond during school hours.

During the community information meetings, members of the district will go over what the school tax increase would look like if the bond were to pass.

“We want people to vote their heart,” Perez said. “We just want people to have the right information and make an informed decision.”

The deadline to register to vote is April 4 and Election Day is May 4.

 

Community information meetings

 

• March 18 — Nederland High School
• March 19 — Helena Park Elementary
• March 26 — C.O. Wilson Middle School
• March 28 — Central Middle School
• April 1 — Highland Park Elementary
• April 2 — Langham Elementary
• April 3 — Hillcrest Elementary

 

All meetings start at 5:30.