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Hays CISDPosted January 23, 2007, 6:45 a.m.
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BUDA — Housing starts and closings in Hays CISD once again reached all-time records in 2006, according to numbers developed by the school district as it contemplates going out for another bond issue to address growth.
The news came as the district announced a total enrollment of 11,944, well beyond projections at the start of the school year. At the beginning of August, the district predicted an enrollment high of 11,497. By the time school started later that month, registrations approached 11,600.
In fact, said Hays CISD Superintendent Kirk London, growth in the school district has exceeded the "high growth" scenarios the district forecast as it went out for bonds in 2004 and 2006. The news of increased housing starts and closings indicates that an influx of students is will continue its rapid increase.
The first three quarters of housing starts and closings within the district were the three highest in the school district's history, while the fourth quarter closings still rank fifth. Starts peaked at 448 in the third quarter, while closings peaked at 437.
Meanwhile, school officials are coming to grips with a surprising outcome in last November's bond election, which met 40 percent opposition at the polls despite the provision of no tax increase.
In September 2004, all three portions of an $89 million bond with tax increases passed the voters with two-thirds support. But the $46.3 million bond proposed last November without a tax increase carried only 59.27 percent support.
While school officials acknowledge that the November 2006 bond might have might have lost support for lack of a campaign in its favor, they also feel somewhat constrained by recent regulations that allow bond elections to take place only on uniform election dates in May and November.
In the past, the school district could schedule a bond election at virtually any time of the year, meaning the community could discuss the issue in isolation from other political matters. Now, even if future bond elections promise no tax increases, the possibility of passing them becomes more difficult because voters will have to consider bonds alongside higher profile elections.
Hays CISD Trustees President Chip DuPont pointed out that the school district has a difficult choice when deciding on bond elections dates. If the elections are called for November, he said, they would run up against gubernatorial and presidential races every other year, meaning bond supporters would campaign through noisier elections. If the elections are called for the uniform date in May, they will be tangled with school board elections, since at least one seat on the board is up for election every May.
Meanwhile, houses keep popping out of the ground.
The school district's figures show 1,556 housing starts in 2006, an increase of 17 percent from 1,334 starts in 2005. Closings increased 22 percent in 2006, to 1,496 from 1,223. An additional 2,364 vacant developed lots are on the ground, 477 future lots are being developed and 4,213 preliminary lots are in the planning stages.
School officials haven’t yet decided on when to go out for another bond, but it’s well known that nearly annual bond elections are a virtual inevitability.
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