Brazosport ISD sets May 3 elections for trustees and $167 million bond

The Brazosport ISD Board of Trustees voted to order a May 3, 2025 election for school trustees and to call a $167,000,000 bond election, following presentations from district staff and the bond planning committee.

Administrators presented a needs assessment and a bond-planning committee recommendation that the board authorize two propositions totaling $167,000,000: Proposition A for $160,900,000 covering general-purpose capital projects (roofing, HVAC, cafeterias, structural repairs, facility renovation and capital equipment) and Proposition B for $6,100,000 dedicated to one-to-one student devices (technology). The committee and staff said the district can issue the bonds while keeping the district’s interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate flat under current assumptions; staff and bond advisors presented a conservative 0.5% property-value growth model that did not include any potential value from the Dow project discussed earlier in the meeting.

Bond planning committee member Mike Carter, a longtime local resident who said he retired from Dow after a 34-year career, described the committee’s process: the group reviewed prior bond results, facility-assessment findings and department capital requests and reached the recommendation to place a $167 million program on the May ballot. Staff said the district has used voter‑approved bonds in 2012, 2014 and 2019 and maintains a citizen bond oversight committee to monitor projects and expenditures.

Administrators also summarized district fiscal context: they said the district faces an operating deficit of about $11,700,000 under current basic allotment funding levels, that 86% of the operating budget goes to salaries and that state funding formulas have not increased the basic allotment since 2019. Presenters noted legislative changes since 2019 require special-purpose items (including substantial technology purchases and certain stadium or housing projects) to appear as separate propositions on the ballot; staff and counsel said the district’s Proposition B for technology was separated for that reason.

Legal counsel and staff explained an additional procedural detail trustees asked about: for ballot language the Texas Attorney General’s office requires a statement that approval of a proposition will increase property taxes in connection with issuance of bonds. District staff said that even when the bond program is modeled to require no tax-rate increase, the AG’s guidance (and all‑body counsel letters) requires an unqualified sentence on the ballot stating that taxes will increase if voters approve the bond; staff said they will use outreach and education to explain the district’s tax-rate and debt-service modeling to the community.

The board voted to order the trustee election (for single-member districts and a special election for district 3) and to call the bond election with the two propositions; trustees also approved the recommended election timeline, including early voting April 22–29 and election day voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 3. The motion to call the bond election carried after board discussion and a second. Administrators said project timelines would be finalized after election outcomes; staff said much of the proposed work (roofs, boilers, chillers, exterior repairs, technology devices and other capital needs) is intended to be completed over roughly a five-year implementation window and that the district will report to the citizen oversight committee as work proceeds.

Board members and committee members present included student and teacher participants on the committee; staff said the bond program was developed through public meetings and a multi-stakeholder process. The board approved the order and the bond call at the meeting; staff will publish notices and follow statutory posting and publication requirements to place the propositions on the May 3, 2025 ballot.