Voters Reject SASD Bond Package, Schools Remain Untouched in Decades

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Jeanne Russell
Express-News Staff Writer

San Antonio School District voters Tuesday rejected a plan to revamp eight high schools and expand prekindergarten classrooms, unwilling to swallow a price tag of $399 million and the highest tax rate in the county.

About 54 percent of voters came out against the proposal, which failed with 2,198 votes in favor and 2,607 against. If the bond had passed, the district's tax rate would have risen to $1.875 from $1.72 per $100 valuation, making it the highest school tax rate in the county.

That probably was what gave voters pause, analysts said.

"The people around here really need some property tax relief," said Henry Flores, dean of the graduate school at St. Mary's University. "Underneath the surface there is this little seething anger about property taxes."

Flores said the overwhelming passage of Proposition 3, which froze city taxes for San Antonio seniors and disabled people, should have been a signal to policymakers.

"I think any school district is going to have this problem until the Texas Legislature does something about property tax relief," Flores said.

Some critics viewed the outcome as a reprimand to the district leadership.

"Many of the taxpayers are telling us that there's no accountability," said Alejandrina "Mimi" Garcia, president of Parents on Watch, a group that opposed the bond.

Garcia criticized the fact that some repairs weren't completed under the 1997 bond, which sought to address problems at 92 of the district's 94 schools. And the 2001 bond should have focused on bringing buildings up to snuff rather than adding music and athletic facilities, Garcia charged.

The district's most serious problem is that its aging buildings, which include the state's oldest schools, went for years without any serious maintenance or upgrades. Trustees hoped they had gained residents' confidence through two major successful construction efforts that were monitored by a citizens oversight committee.

Supporters, including a coalition of parent groups, had argued that the bond would allow the district to take advantage of state funds that pay for about half of the school construction program.

"It's heartbreaking," said Joe Pacheco, a parent who had campaigned actively as a member of Citizens for Campus Improvements. "We want the kids to know that we're not going to give up on them."

Backers also had gambled on low turnout and low visibility working in their favor, thinking that the timing between the high profile mayoral race and runoff would draw only those who cared about schools.

Indeed, turnout Tuesday totaled just 4,820, about 3 percent of the more than 160,000 registered voters, according to unofficial tallies by the Bexar County Elections Office. That compared to 14,000 and 23,000 voters in the district's 1997 and 2001 bond elections, which both earned more than 70 percent voter approval.

A trickle of people passing through the Joe Ward Community Center amounted to a total of only 68 voters by 5:30 p.m. And a man parked in a nearby pickup said he might have voted had he known an election was going on.

But invisibility apparently wasn't enough to win the day.

Amos Jones said he came out to support the bond, although neither his kids nor his grandkids live in the district.

"I just thought it would be a good thing for education," he said. Even though he didn't have a personal stake, "I still thought it was a good thing for the children."

Olivia Camacho, a retired educator, declined to state how she voted but said she and her husband vote in every election, no matter how small.

jeanner@express-news.net