Residents in the Eanes school district are headed toward a $149.5 million bond referendum on Nov. 2. In a 5-2 vote, school board members elected to put three propositions before voters this fall.

Board members Clint Sayers and Colleen Jones voted against the package, supporting a single alternative proposition totalling $60 million that reduced the scope of bond items.

“We have crafted a proposal,” said Paul Stone, board president. “The taxpayers can now tell us if they agree with it. It’s not cheap, but this community has a history of making significant investments in education. This is the road to excellence.”

Proposition 1 for $72 million covers items the district says are critical to maintenance, operation and current programs. The proposition includes $17 million in technology costs, $15.3 million in energy costs, and $9.7 million in Americans with Disabilities Act work, including new school playgrounds.

Proposition 2 for $57 million calls for the construction of a new $24.2 million elementary school on River Hills Road, the renovation of three elementary schools and a $3.5 million replacement support services facility.

Proposition 3 at $20.5 million covers parking and extracurricular facilities, including a new $ 6.3 million swim center, a $6.5 million student activity center and a $6.6 million dance/cheer/wrestling facility.

“It’s been a long year and a half plus,” Stone said of the bond process. “This has evolved into a proposal not surprisingly not supported by everyone. This is a diverse community.”

Superintendent Nola Wellman said she was happy with the bond package passed by the board.

“It makes a strong statement about the commitment to excellence our community stands for,” she said. “Our community made their opinions known throughout the process in various forums, and the board listened to that.”

Jones offered board members an alternative bond proposal that she and Sayers drafted that reduced the number of needs deemed critical to maintenance and operation and the cost of items remaining on the list, bringing the cost of Proposition 1 down to $50.1 million. Jones, a former Eanes Elementary School Booster Club president, then added back in $10 million in renovation costs she said were critical to the proper renovation of that elementary school campus, bringing the cost of the single-proposition alternative proposal to $60.1 million.

Sayers said he thought part of the scope of the three-proposal bond package was excessive and that the district could get by on less.

“It makes sense to take care of our existing (facilities) rather than add additional improvements when we can’t even take care of what we’ve got,” he said. “And it adds to our M&O costs.”

As an example of how bond expenses could be reduced, Sayers said that the district could realistically reduce the $9.6 million of ADA costs in Proposition 1 to $7.7 million in renovations and improvements. The alternative bond proposal drafted by Sayers and Jones eliminated Propositions 2 and 3 and rejected money for future bond planning.

Board member Ellen Balthazar spoke in support of the $149.5 million package prior to the board vote.

“I feel that we have gotten behind a lot of our peer districts,” she said. “It is time for us to step up.”

“I am going to rely on the administration’s recommendations for what needs to be done for this district,” said board member Robert Durkee. “My goal is to remain a world-class district. Anything less than what is proposed here is going to put us in second place.”

Sayers disagreed, stating that what makes a district world-class are the students, the teachers and the proper maintenance of facilities.

“I don’t think that you have to spend this kind of money,” he said.

Wellman said the district would release the exact wording of the three bond propositions in the next few days.

In the end, the voting process that ended nearly two years of bond discussions and planning was swift. After hearing the alternative proposal offered by Jones and a suggested amendment that extracurricular facilities be cut from Proposition 3, board members voted the nearly $150 million bond proposal into voter options. Most board members seemed happy with the bond that will be put before voters, happy with the opportunities it will offer the district to maintain its reputation and happy that their end of the bond process is over.

“I want to give the voters the opportunity to share the vision of a world-class school district,” Durkee said. “When it comes down to it, the voters of this district are the ones that build buildings. What the school board did tonight was give them a chance to do that.”

BELOW: Eanes school board members, from left, Kal Kallison, Jim Strickland and Colleen Jones study bond options during a meeting Tuesday that ended with a three-option proposal that will go before voters Nov. 2.