In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting and other potential threats, and with unprecedented growth projected for Taylor Independent School District, voters handily approved an $82.5 million bond issue Nov. 8 to fund safety upgrades, campus expansions, maintenance and other projects.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Taylor ISD’s Proposition A passed with 63.64 percent of the electorate approving the measure and 36.36 percent against it out of a pool of more than 5,000 voters.
“I am grateful for the community’s support and trust in our school district,” said Superintendent Devin Padavil. “I am thankful to our school’s board of trustees for giving us this opportunity, and I am thankful for all the parents that helped to share information about this bond throughout the community.” The bond will use about $53 million to fund safety improvements, growth and maintenance for the campuses, including adding security cameras, secure entry ways, fencing and other measures.
In July, the Texas Education Agency mandated that public schools conduct safety audits in the wake of the shootings May 4 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, as well as the 18-year-old gunman.
“Safety is the most important when it comes to our buildings,” Padavil said.
In addition, $7 million will be used for land acquisition based on projections the elementary school will exceed enrollment between 2026 and 2028, and the middle and high schools shortly thereafter.
Enrollment for this decade is projected to more than double, officials said, from 3,040 students in the 2021 school year to 6,160 students by 2031, officials said.
Some of that growth is driven by the pending opening of Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other related high-tech industries locating in the area, creating thousands of new jobs and attracting new families.
Padavil said construction and renovations of the campus buildings would be done in phases and take place over several years.
“One can imagine, given the supply-chain challenges and the construction-manpower challenges in Central Texas, getting everything done at once is difficult in a normal year and a little more challenging this year, so we are breaking things up into phases, so we are able to get things done in the most efficient manner possible,” Padavil said.
Another feature of the bond package that Padavil is excited about is an expansion of Taylor ISD’s Career and Technical Education facility.
“That addition is going to give kids the opportunity to expand their career choices,” Padavil said. “I told the seniors at Taylor High School this morning, even though you may not be here to enjoy it, you have planted the seeds to change the lives of future Ducks.”
Rachael Westerman, the treasurer for the Citizens for Taylor ISD Political Action Committee and a Taylor ISD parent, said she and other community members used grassroots organizing to get the message out and were “over the moon” the referendum passed.
“It was us out there pounding the pavement, door knocking, getting signs in yards, doing outreach, talking about it,” Westerman said. “(Padavil) was amazing about being very transparent, making all the information available through several meetings, and even PAC members would attend, just so that we could hear it again and be there to support it and answer questions after the meeting and things like that, personally connecting with our little spheres of influences.”
Westerman said the bond is needed to address the challenges facing Taylor ISD.
“Uvalde hit really close to home being that it was only a couple of hours away in a school district that was really comparable to Taylor, and so making sure that our schools are super secure is extremely important,” Westerman said. “We are going to outgrow our schools and the thought of kids, elementary school kids, doing classrooms in portables is terrifying, and so we don’t want that.”
She added, “We have a lot of growth coming our way, and whether we are excited about it or not, it’s coming, and our kids should not have to pay the price of the growth of our city.”
