Stafford MSD board narrows bond package to about $150 million; trustees split projects into four propositions

The Stafford Municipal School District board spent a large portion of the meeting reviewing a draft bond package and financing options, with staff and outside advisors presenting project scopes, cost estimates and vote-language options toward a proposed May 3 ballot measure.

Staff and consultants presented a draft package that, after discussion, the board coalesced around at roughly $150 million in total authorizations split into four propositions: general campus renovations and academic support (approximately $113.4 million), a separate reimbursement proposition for the district’s $5 million maintenance note (estimated on the paperwork as $5.25 million to include issuance costs), an athletics package (about $21.4 million), and technology and instructional equipment (about $10 million). Together those figures produce a bond authorization in the $149–151 million range, depending on final adjustments staff will make before the joint board/city council meeting.

Consultants and staff walked trustees through specific project components and cost drivers. LAN (the district’s program advisor) highlighted priorities identified by the long-range planning committee, noting that items marked “green” had stronger community and committee support. JP (LAN) said the colored priority sheet was designed to help trustees “draw that line” between cost thresholds for different tax-impact scenarios and to identify which projects fall into a zero-tax-increase package versus modest tax increases.

Key details and options discussed during the meeting included:

- Academic support and renovations: Staff added a new “academic support” line — small equipment, CTE lab compliance items, library materials and some STEM gear — with a draft figure of about $4.5 million that is not yet reflected in earlier option worksheets. LAN said essential CTE items alone (walk-in refrigerators/freezers, welders, specialized computers) totaled roughly $2.3 million.

- Early Childhood Center (ECC) and STEM/elementary renovations: Trustees discussed two approaches for the ECC and STEM programs. One option would construct an addition at ECC to add classrooms; another would repurpose existing space and build a new STEM building instead. LAN said removing the 10-classroom ECC addition would shift projects toward a new STEM building and district auditorium.

- Transportation facility and buses: The draft included about $8.9–9.0 million for a new or upgraded transportation facility and bus parking. LAN told trustees that replacing portable buildings on the existing site would be far less expensive but that many committee members preferred a comprehensive facility; JP said a conservative off-the-cuff estimate to build a smaller facility instead of a full new campus-style site could reduce the listed cost by roughly 20 percent.

- Athletics and turf: The board discussed a $9.8 million baseball/softball complex; LAN said about $2.2 million of that total is the artificial-turf component and could be removed to reduce cost. The larger athletics package also includes a field house, stadium improvements, weight rooms and scoreboard/field-turf updates.

- Fencing and grounds: LAN estimated a “fencing-only” option at about $2.6 million. Trustees asked for a detailed breakout of linear footage and gates to identify possible reductions.

- Safety and security: Trustees discussed purchases to support the SRO program and site security upgrades. The number of district-owned SRO vehicles was not finalized; trustees asked staff to produce a detailed count and ownership plan. LAN noted that the district had previously received a turnkey security proposal in the neighborhood of $16 million, but that no contract or scope was approved.

- Inflation and bid timing: LAN explained the firm’s approach to inflation; items that will bid sooner have lower inflation factors. JP said the team assumed 5 percent inflation the first year, 4 percent the second and 3 percent thereafter for cost modeling.

Finance and timing: RBC Capital Markets (financial advisor) advised the board that the district should present a separate bond proposition to refinance the $5 million maintenance tax note rather than lumping that reimbursement into other propositions; state law requires separate voter authorization for that kind of reimbursement. RBC also summarized likely tax-rate impacts: the staff-and-advisor scenario the board discussed would produce a tax-rate increase in the cents-per-$100-of-property-value range that district staff will finalize; RBC estimated the sample scenario’s annual impact for a $313,000 median-market-value home at about $23.60 per month (the advisors modeled multiple home-value and exemption assumptions). RBC emphasized that selling bonds in multiple series over two-to-three years will change tax-rate timing and offers the district flexibility to avoid a single sharp rate increase.

Board direction and next steps: Trustees asked staff and consultants for additional breakout details (fencing linear-foot costs, turf-only costs for baseball/softball, a transportation-facility “repurposing” estimate rather than a new-site price, SRO vehicle counts, and an updated summary showing which projects would be included in each proposition). Trustees agreed to refine the draft and meet jointly with the city council the following day to finalize propositions and ballot language.

Votes at a glance (formal votes recorded during the meeting):

- Resolution authorizing payment of exempt and nonexempt employees for inclement weather days (Jan. 21–22, 2025): Motion to approve moved by Dr. Bostick; second recorded by Board Secretary Jean Baptiste; vote 7–0, motion carried.

- Approval of the 2025–26 district academic calendar: Motion to approve moved by Board Secretary Jean Baptiste; second by Trustee Thompson; vote 7–0, motion carried.

- Consent agenda (multiple routine items): Motion to approve moved by Vice President Aya Shamarani; second by Trustee Sosa Motolongo; vote 7–0, motion carried.

Clarifying details compiled during deliberations: fencing-only estimate $2.6 million; removing artificial turf from baseball/softball reduces that project by roughly $2.2 million; academic support items $4.5 million (new line item); LAN’s cost-inflation assumptions (5% year 1, 4% year 2, 3% thereafter); transportation facility baseline shown near $9.0 million but may be reduced by using existing site or scaled alternatives; reimbursement of the maintenance tax note shown on the certificate/resolution as $5,250,000 (includes principal plus issuance/interest carry).

Provenance: Topic intro evidence: “...we'll do 4b, which is, LAN and review of final project offerings.” (Dr. Bostick introducing the item, 00:45:53–00:46:15)

Topic finish evidence: “So for tomorrow, we'll have the the those props and, you know, we'll have a joint meeting. We'll open it up. ... We'll have a joint meeting. We'll open it up. You know, we'll entertain a motion.” (Board wrapping up numbers and next steps, 03:22:10–03:22:50)

Speakers (attribution whitelist): [{"name":"Doctor Bostick","role_title":"Superintendent","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:45:53","transcript_line_range":[2753,2772]}},{"name":"JP (LAN)","role_title":"Program advisor (LAN) - project/estimates presenter","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"LAN (consultant)","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:46:12","transcript_line_range":[2772,2810]}},{"name":"Claire Scribe","role_title":"Financial advisor, RBC Capital Markets","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"RBC Capital Markets","first_reference":{"timecode":"01:50:00","transcript_line_range":[6620,6632]}},{"name":"Clarence","role_title":"Chief Financial Officer","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD","first_reference":{"timecode":"01:48:00","transcript_line_range":[6534,6564]}},{"name":"President Han","role_title":"Board President","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD Board of Trustees","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:00:00","transcript_line_range":[0,20]}},{"name":"Vice President Aya Shamarani","role_title":"Board Vice President","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD Board of Trustees","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:37:26","transcript_line_range":[2226,2251]}},{"name":"Trustee Hinojosa","role_title":"Board Trustee","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD Board of Trustees","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:55:04","transcript_line_range":[3264,3277]}},{"name":"Board Secretary Jean Baptiste","role_title":"Board Secretary / Trustee","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD Board of Trustees","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:21:00","transcript_line_range":[1296,1311]}},{"name":"Trustee Sosa-Motolongo","role_title":"Board Trustee","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Stafford MSD Board of Trustees","first_reference":{"timecode":"02:19:45","transcript_line_range":[9376,9379]}}]

Authorities referenced: [{"type":"other","name":"Texas law requiring separate authorization for reimbursement of maintenance-tax notes (reimbursement resolution)","referenced_by":["Claire Scribe"]},{"type":"other","name":"Texas Education Agency (TEA) guidance (mentioned elsewhere in meeting)","referenced_by":["Derek Stinson"]}]

Actions (formal votes recorded in the minutes): [{"kind":"resolution","identifiers":{},"motion":"Approve resolution authorizing payment of exempt and nonexempt employees for the inclement weather days beginning 01/21/2025, continuing to 01/22/2025.","mover":"Doctor Bostick","second":"Board Secretary Jean Baptiste","vote_record":[{"member":"Doctor Bostick","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Board Secretary Jean Baptiste","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Vice President Aya Shamarani","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Hinojosa","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Sosa-Motolongo","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Thompson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"President Han","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":7,"no":0,"abstain":0,"absent":0,"recused":0},"legal_threshold":{"met":true,"notes":"Majority vote for resolution"},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Motion carried 7-0."},{"kind":"other","identifiers":{},"motion":"Approve the 2025–26 district academic calendar as presented.","mover":"Board Secretary Jean Baptiste","second":"Trustee Thompson","vote_record":[{"member":"Jean Baptiste","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Thompson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Vice President Aya Shamarani","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Hinojosa","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Sosa-Motolongo","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Doctor Bostick","vote":"yes"},{"member":"President Han","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":7,"no":0,"abstain":0,"absent":0,"recused":0},"legal_threshold":{"met":true,"notes":"Majority vote for calendar adoption"},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Motion carried 7-0."},{"kind":"other","identifiers":{},"motion":"Approve consent agenda as presented.","mover":"Vice President Aya Shamarani","second":"Trustee Sosa-Motolongo","vote_record":[{"member":"Vice President Aya Shamarani","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Sosa-Motolongo","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Board Secretary Jean Baptiste","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Thompson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Hinojosa","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Doctor Bostick","vote":"yes"},{"member":"President Han","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":7,"no":0,"abstain":0,"absent":0,"recused":0},"legal_threshold":{"met":true,"notes":"Majority vote"},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Motion carried 7-0."}]

Discussion vs decision: The bond review remained at the deliberation stage; trustees provided direction for follow-up (detailed cost breakouts and alternative scopes) but no bond authorization motion was taken at the meeting. Staff and consultants were directed to prepare updated figures and a simple proposition summary for the joint board/city-council meeting the next day.

Clarifying details (selected): [{"category":"academic_support","detail":"New line item for instructional/equipment needs (CTE compliance, library, STEM devices), draft $4,500,000","value":4500000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"JP (LAN)"},{"category":"fencing_only","detail":"Breakout requested; LAN estimate shown as $2,600,000 for a fencing-only package","value":2600000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"JP (LAN)"},{"category":"baseball_turf","detail":"Removing artificial turf from baseball/softball would reduce that project by about $2,200,000","value":2200000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"JP (LAN)"},{"category":"maintenance_note","detail":"Existing maintenance tax note principal $5,000,000; certificate/resolution modeled reimbursement authorization $5,250,000 (includes issuance and interest carry)","value":5250000,"units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Claire Scribe (RBC)"},{"category":"transportation","detail":"Transportation facility estimate shown near $8.9–9.0M; consultant suggested scaled alternative could reduce costs by ~20%","value":8900000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"JP (LAN)"}]

Proper names: [{"name":"Stafford Municipal School District","type":"agency"},{"name":"LAN","type":"business"},{"name":"RBC Capital Markets","type":"business"},{"name":"Kickstart Kids","type":"organization"}]

Community relevance: Geographies affected: Stafford MSD campuses; impact groups: K–12 students, CTE students, student-athletes, parents; funding sources: bond authorization (local property taxes) and existing maintenance-tax notes.

Meeting context: Trustees spent the bulk of the meeting on bond deliberations with high engagement; staff and consultants will return with more detailed cost breakouts and a proposition summary for the next-day joint meeting with city council.

Salience: overall 0.85 — large fiscal ask with broad operational and capital impacts; likely strong local interest and need for careful public education before a vote.