2008 Klein ISD Proposal: Everything you NEED to know!
At the March 4, 2008 Klein ISD School Board meeting, the Trustees called for a bond referendum in the amount of $646.9 million. The election will be held on Saturday, May 10th.
As voters and taxpayers, we all need to consider whether this is a reasonable amount. The financial impact on the residents of Klein ISD is substantial. According to Thomas Petrek, Associate Superintendent Financial Services, the debt service portion of our tax rate (currently $0.22) is projected to increase at least $0.20 over the next 4 years. In addition, the Maintenance & Operation (M&O) portion of the budget (currently $1.04) will also likely increase, perhaps an additional $0.05. This would have to be done with a rollback election, but it would be necessary due to the opening of new schools. So over the course of the next 4 years, our property taxes will likely look like this:
$1.04 (current M&O)
$0.05 (likely additional M&O)
$0.22 (current debt service)
$0.20 (proposed bond debt service)
$1.51 (total projected tax rate)
Our current tax rate is 1.26. Proponents of this increase will argue that we have been at this tax rate and higher in previous years. Don’t let that fool you. First of all, the state mandated a reduction in the M&O portion of the tax rate to $1.00 with an additional $0.04 “super pennies” that could be added at the discretion of the school board. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, what was the appraised value on your home just a few years ago? While tax rates were higher, appraised values were lower! So they are comparing apples to oranges. You have to consider the bottom line, and the bottom line is we will be paying more and more taxes at a time when the economy is struggling.
Again, I ask you is this a reasonable amount? Proponents of this bond will also argue that other area school districts passed much larger bonds in November, 2007. Let’s look at that:
HISD: $805 million
Cy Fair: $807 million
Spring Branch: $597.1 million
Fort Bend: $428 million
Here’s the rest of that story:
HISD: 200,000 students. Residents were told their taxes would not increase! HISD also has a 20% homestead exemption and a huge commercial base.
Cy Fair: 117,000 students with a VERY large commercial base to help absorb the taxes. Cy Fair also has a 20% homestead exemption thereby shifting even more of the taxes to the commercial segment.
Spring Branch: 32,000 students (yes, less than Klein) but they are only 30% residential, and they too have a 20% homestead exemption. Their tax base is $14.1 billion.
Fort Bend: 68,000 students
Klein ISD: 42,000 students, 80% residential, $11.1 billion tax base!
Initially the Steering Committee was told that the next bond would be in 2013. Later that was changed to 2012. So in 4 more years we will need another bond. In that bond we will need to build High School #6, at least 1 more Intermediate School, and several elementary schools as well as land purchases for many sites. Technology funds will also be necessary to provide laptops for Intermediate Schools. Krimmel, the 2 new Intermediates, and Hildebrandt will already have laptops, but funding will be needed in the 2012 bond for all the other Intermediate Schools. There is no way to predict how much the 2012 bond will need to be, but we can model the maximum that it can be. State law limits school districts to a debt service rate of $0.50. If our debt service rate becomes $0.42 (current $0.22 plus proposed $0.20) that only leaves $0.08 for the next bond. There is no way that $0.08 will be enough to fund all of those projects.
Now let’s shift our focus away from taxes and consider other controversial aspects of this bond:
Technology is creating a lot of discussion. Initially $72 million was allocated for technology. That was later reduced to $38 million when laptops were removed for Intermediate Schools (other than Hildebrandt and the 2 new Intermediates). Do the research for yourself. Google “school laptop programs” and see just how successful these have been in other districts that have used them for several years. Public schools have a responsibility to educate all of our children. We as taxpayers do not have a responsibility to pay for laptops for every student in our district.
The overcrowding situation is a major concern for our community:
Elementary and Intermediate schools in our area will continue to be terribly overcrowded, yet this bond only calls for 3 new Elementary schools. Of the $646.9 million in this bond, only $312 million is for new seats and land for future sites. The district hired a company that specializes in demographics. Population and Survey Analysts (PASA) projections show a need for an additional high school to open in 2010. Initially the Steering Committee was told that HS #5 would open in 2010. When the architects realized they were designing a high school for 3500 students, they had to push the opening back to 2011. With their desire to move all of Klein High School to this new location for 2 years, no rezoning would take place until 2013. An addition to Klein Oak is planned, and in 2010 the capacity at Klein Oak will be 3500. Proponents of this plan claim that this will take care of the overcrowding situation at Klein Oak. The PASA report proves otherwise. Based on the LOW GROWTH projections, in 2011 Klein Oak will have 3687 students, and by 2013 Klein Oak will have 4070 students! PASA’s “Most Likely” growth scenario predicts enrollment of 3959 in 2011 and 4472 in 2013. High School #5 needs to open in 2011 as a new school, with rezoning, in order to properly address the overcrowding situation at Klein Oak.
Do you want to pay $130.2 million to rebuild Klein High School at this time? There are no engineering reports indicating it is structurally unsafe. The school continues to yield high quality students in its current location. It is an old facility and is in need of a facelift. But if I want to remodel my kitchen, I don’t bulldoze my house and build a new one. The district has not provided any justification to show that a rebuild is more cost effective than a remodel. The School Board even asked that question during their March meeting, and they were not given an answer. Renovating existing spaces can be done over time, even during summer months when school is not in session, and proper renovations can substantially reduce maintenance costs over years to come. Additionally, if the facility is such poor condition, why wait until 2011 to rebuild Klein High School? Why not start right away? The additional cost of waiting until 2011 is $23 million. The bottom line is that the district wants to give Klein High School a brand new school, they want to move the students into HS #5, and they want us to pay $130.2 million to do it.
This bond is so controversial that the Steering Committee did not even reach a consensus about it! Ask any Steering Committee member (I have asked several) if they were given any dollar amounts to help in their evaluation process along the way. The answer is no. They were asked to evaluate the merit of each project without any consideration given to the cost of that project. They were finally given figures at the end of all the presentations. Who was steering whom in this situation?
If you have not already done so, I encourage you to visit www.kleinisd.net as well as www.kleinforall.com for more information. This proposed $646.9 million bond is NOT good for ALL of Klein ISD. We need a bond; we just don’t need THIS bond. Please help us support the best interests of our community. As a community we HAVE to stand up and vote NO on May 10.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Kleinforall.com recommendation:
Vote NO and ask Klein ISD to take a TIME OUT.
There is a lot of opposition to the current Bond Proposal from areas all over the district, and for good reason. The plan does not have a consistent story, lacks transparency, fails to relieve overcrowding in high growth areas of the district and fails to deliver justification for the size of this Bond and particular projects.
There is no argument that the district is growing and we need to build and repair schools, but this plan fails to relieve overcrowding. In fact, the plan includes spending $4M on new and existing Portable Buildings.
The district has operated beyond practical capacity for many years now. Practical Capacity is defined by the Population & Survey Analyst (PASA) Report, section 4, to be 90% of rated capacity. Considering that 5% of the student population is currently taking classes in some 100 Portable Buildings scattered throughout campuses across the district, we are operating beyond practical capacity.
The current High School plan provides for 18,000 seats of capacity by the year 2013 at a cost of $290M. The problem here is that we are projected to have less than 15,000 High School students enrolled in the fall of 2013. We need to make a choice to either add-on to Klein Oak and Klein Collins for $27M or build a new High School for $130M. We do not need to do both to solve our capacity issue. The KISD Plan is to do both and rebuild Klein High School (which adds no capacity to the district) for a total cost of $290M. This does not make sense from a capacity perspective or a financial one.
No engineering or architectural recommendation to tear down and rebuild Klein High exists. Due to the high cost of the High School Plan we are left with little money to relieve overcrowding in elementary and intermediate schools. While they are doing too much for High School capacity, they do too little for Elementary School Capacity as the current plan is projected to leave us in an overcrowded condition.
The plan is unfair in the way they intend to deploy the laptop computers. Whether you agree with the idea of purchasing laptops for students or not, we should be able to agree that they be distributed fairly. The current plan is to provide laptops to a portion of the intermediate schools, but not all. Doerre, Hildebrandt and Strack are some of the schools that will not receive laptops on this bond proposal, but they will be attending Klein Oak along side of students from Krimmel who will have been working on the technology for 3 years.
In a recent Houston Chronicle article, a report was published ranking Houston High Schools according to criteria like TAKS test scores, Graduation Rates and SAT scores. Klein High is the only KISD High School to appear in the top tier out of 4 tiers. KISD had one High School in each of the other tiers. It would seem that our focus should be more on parity for educational opportunity rather than for building facilities.
How did these recommendations get made? The steering committee was made up of 55% School Administrators, 20% Community leaders (friends of the district) and 25% Parents. The people who are asking for the money are the same ones who were building the plan. That is a conflict of interest. To hear another Steering Committee member’s point of view, visit www.kleinadvocate.com. The fact is that the steering committee had very little to do with reducing the bond from the original $800M+ price tag down to the $650M price. KISD Officials announced to the steering committee that they had lowered the enrollment projections which caused a significant reduction in the bond. While they lowered the building plan for Elementary schools, they left the High school plan in tact. There was no discussion on this. The proof is in the meeting minutes.
The bottom line is that there is a lack of justification for the teardown and rebuild of Klein High, we are building too much High School capacity, we will continue to be overcrowded in elementary schools, we continue to invest in portable buildings, and we discriminate amongst the intermediate schools with the laptop roll out plan. The KISD Administration clearly needs more time to develop a plan that has justification, a plan that makes financial sense, a plan that takes care of the overcrowding issues at the elementary school level. Vote no and force KISD to take a time out.
If this Bond is voted down, it will not impact the current operations of the district. This Bond is for buildings, repairs and technology investments. If voted down, KISD can develop a new bond plan to be ready for the November ballot. Voting no is just the beginning. We need to change the way buildings are assessed, we need formal engineering reports, we need a better strategy for combating overcrowding, we need competitive bidding on school construction and laptops, a steering committee that represents the desires of parents and taxpayers, and much more. In short, we need to get involved and we need to be organized. Please go to the polls May 10th and VOTE NO for the KISD bond. Klein needs a time out!
Visit us at www.kleinforall.com.
There is a lot of opposition to the current Bond Proposal from areas all over the district, and for good reason. The plan does not have a consistent story, lacks transparency, fails to relieve overcrowding in high growth areas of the district and fails to deliver justification for the size of this Bond and particular projects.
There is no argument that the district is growing and we need to build and repair schools, but this plan fails to relieve overcrowding. In fact, the plan includes spending $4M on new and existing Portable Buildings.
The district has operated beyond practical capacity for many years now. Practical Capacity is defined by the Population & Survey Analyst (PASA) Report, section 4, to be 90% of rated capacity. Considering that 5% of the student population is currently taking classes in some 100 Portable Buildings scattered throughout campuses across the district, we are operating beyond practical capacity.
The current High School plan provides for 18,000 seats of capacity by the year 2013 at a cost of $290M. The problem here is that we are projected to have less than 15,000 High School students enrolled in the fall of 2013. We need to make a choice to either add-on to Klein Oak and Klein Collins for $27M or build a new High School for $130M. We do not need to do both to solve our capacity issue. The KISD Plan is to do both and rebuild Klein High School (which adds no capacity to the district) for a total cost of $290M. This does not make sense from a capacity perspective or a financial one.
No engineering or architectural recommendation to tear down and rebuild Klein High exists. Due to the high cost of the High School Plan we are left with little money to relieve overcrowding in elementary and intermediate schools. While they are doing too much for High School capacity, they do too little for Elementary School Capacity as the current plan is projected to leave us in an overcrowded condition.
The plan is unfair in the way they intend to deploy the laptop computers. Whether you agree with the idea of purchasing laptops for students or not, we should be able to agree that they be distributed fairly. The current plan is to provide laptops to a portion of the intermediate schools, but not all. Doerre, Hildebrandt and Strack are some of the schools that will not receive laptops on this bond proposal, but they will be attending Klein Oak along side of students from Krimmel who will have been working on the technology for 3 years.
In a recent Houston Chronicle article, a report was published ranking Houston High Schools according to criteria like TAKS test scores, Graduation Rates and SAT scores. Klein High is the only KISD High School to appear in the top tier out of 4 tiers. KISD had one High School in each of the other tiers. It would seem that our focus should be more on parity for educational opportunity rather than for building facilities.
How did these recommendations get made? The steering committee was made up of 55% School Administrators, 20% Community leaders (friends of the district) and 25% Parents. The people who are asking for the money are the same ones who were building the plan. That is a conflict of interest. To hear another Steering Committee member’s point of view, visit www.kleinadvocate.com. The fact is that the steering committee had very little to do with reducing the bond from the original $800M+ price tag down to the $650M price. KISD Officials announced to the steering committee that they had lowered the enrollment projections which caused a significant reduction in the bond. While they lowered the building plan for Elementary schools, they left the High school plan in tact. There was no discussion on this. The proof is in the meeting minutes.
The bottom line is that there is a lack of justification for the teardown and rebuild of Klein High, we are building too much High School capacity, we will continue to be overcrowded in elementary schools, we continue to invest in portable buildings, and we discriminate amongst the intermediate schools with the laptop roll out plan. The KISD Administration clearly needs more time to develop a plan that has justification, a plan that makes financial sense, a plan that takes care of the overcrowding issues at the elementary school level. Vote no and force KISD to take a time out.
If this Bond is voted down, it will not impact the current operations of the district. This Bond is for buildings, repairs and technology investments. If voted down, KISD can develop a new bond plan to be ready for the November ballot. Voting no is just the beginning. We need to change the way buildings are assessed, we need formal engineering reports, we need a better strategy for combating overcrowding, we need competitive bidding on school construction and laptops, a steering committee that represents the desires of parents and taxpayers, and much more. In short, we need to get involved and we need to be organized. Please go to the polls May 10th and VOTE NO for the KISD bond. Klein needs a time out!
Visit us at www.kleinforall.com.
Klein ISD dad encourages you to Vote NO!
Subject: Open letter to Klein ISD Board of Trustees concerning the 2008 bond
Below you will find a copy of the open letter sent to Dr. Cain and the Klein ISD school board concerning the upcoming 2008 bond election on May 10th. I urge you to read the letter and forward it on to as many people as possible as it raises some valid questions about the bond.
Dear Dr. Cain-
I have a question that will decide my vote on the 2008 Klein district school bond. The current bond includes a plan for a new high school to be built at a cost of $130,000,000 and to be used for the first two years after completion by the students from Klein High while Klein High is demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $150,000,000. This, of course, adds a tremendous financial burden on the entire district and delays the entire district benefiting from the new school and only benefits one high school, Klein High. In summation, my question is what is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School?
The reason I ask this question is because we have been in a situation before where several schools had to be demolitioned and the students were placed in temporary buildings and used buildings without HVAC. You may remember me from the community meeting that was held at Klein Oak High School regarding the mold remediation that took place at Northampton Elementary in 2005. At the meeting, I had several concerns:
1) I asked you why we could not use other schools, as opposed to a combination of partial use of Northampton Elementary and temporary buildings, while Northampton Elementary was going through demolition and being rebuilt due to the mold.
2) I was concerned that the education of the students there would suffer as they spent the academic year in nearly 20 temporary buildings. The already overcrowded classes at Northampton would become more of an issue in the temporary buildings.
3) I also had a concern that the gym that was to be used for lunches did not have a HVAC system for the area where the children would be eating lunch.
Your answer was succinct. You stated, in essence, that this was an isolated incident only affecting a few elementary schools and that it could be handled without impacting the rest of the school district. You assured me that my children’s education would not be impacted and that the Klein administration and staff were up to the task. Due to the fact that some parts of the school such as the gym (which has no HVAC) would be open during construction and would serve a dual purpose temporarily, I was concerned for my children’s health and safety during the extensive construction that would take place. You assured me you that my children would be kept safe and a healthy environment would be maintained.
Based on your answer to these questions, I have a couple more questions regarding the use of the new high school that will be used for Klein High School students upon its completion while Klein High School is being rebuilt.
1) What is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School? The situation of the two schools, of course, is nearly identical.
2) Is there any other district in the state or country that has held up the opening of a new school to reduce significant overcrowding across the district so that a significant minority of students within the district did not have to be inconvenienced by their school’s remodeling?
3) Since Klein High is only one year older than Hildebrandt Intermediate, is there a plan to demolition Hildebrandt and allow those students to use a new intermediate while the reconstruction is occurring?
4) Do you plan on using this same approach when the other Klein high schools reach the same age as Klein High?
5) Since all schools that were built prior to the passing of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 are not up to the standards set forth in that act, are you planning on no longer taking advantage of the grandfather clause and updating all schools built before the act?
6) The gym in which my children ate lunch at Northampton Elementary had no A/C at anytime in the area they ate lunch. Are you saying the buildings at Klein High do not have A/C or just that it was not originally built into the building?
7) Since Klein High is the best performing high school in the district from an academic standard, do you think by relegating Klein High’s interests to a point more in line with the rest of the high schools within the district that we may be able to improve the performance at the other high schools?
8) Given Klein High’s high academic performance, is it possible that the overcrowding throughout the district is having a bigger impact on academic performance than the issues you raise about Klein High?
9) Is the overcrowding at Klein High due to the fact that parents of the students at Klein High refused to go along with the original school board plan to rezone some children from Klein High to Klein Collins when it opened and, therefore, all students for Klein Collins were taken from Klein Oak, reducing it to a 4A school?
10) If conditions are so bad at Klein High, why did those parents not jump at the chance to send their children to the newest high school in the district, Klein Collins, when they had a legitimate chance to do so in a way that would have better balanced the district and not had such a negative impact on Klein Oak as it lost many good teachers during this time?
11) I can assure you with the highest level of confidence that use of computers is not something higher institutions of learning place any amount of significance on during admissions. They focus on how well a student did in the fundamentals and on SAT/ACT scores. Do you think if we do not have enough money to address overcrowding for the entire district that we should be spending money on laptops for some of the schools?
12) My final question is the same as my first - what is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School? I will be happy to let you and the school board meet my children. I am sure then that you will gain a new perspective. I am sure you will see there is no difference and restructure this bond to either include enough money for the entire district or redistribute the existing money across the district to reflect the entire district’s needs.
I know the school board is having a closed meeting this Tuesday, May 6th, at 7:00pm at the Klein ISD administration building. The core purposes of the Open Meetings Act are to enable public access to and to increase public knowledge of government decision making. Please open this meeting to the concerned parents of this district.
Below you will find a copy of the open letter sent to Dr. Cain and the Klein ISD school board concerning the upcoming 2008 bond election on May 10th. I urge you to read the letter and forward it on to as many people as possible as it raises some valid questions about the bond.
Dear Dr. Cain-
I have a question that will decide my vote on the 2008 Klein district school bond. The current bond includes a plan for a new high school to be built at a cost of $130,000,000 and to be used for the first two years after completion by the students from Klein High while Klein High is demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $150,000,000. This, of course, adds a tremendous financial burden on the entire district and delays the entire district benefiting from the new school and only benefits one high school, Klein High. In summation, my question is what is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School?
The reason I ask this question is because we have been in a situation before where several schools had to be demolitioned and the students were placed in temporary buildings and used buildings without HVAC. You may remember me from the community meeting that was held at Klein Oak High School regarding the mold remediation that took place at Northampton Elementary in 2005. At the meeting, I had several concerns:
1) I asked you why we could not use other schools, as opposed to a combination of partial use of Northampton Elementary and temporary buildings, while Northampton Elementary was going through demolition and being rebuilt due to the mold.
2) I was concerned that the education of the students there would suffer as they spent the academic year in nearly 20 temporary buildings. The already overcrowded classes at Northampton would become more of an issue in the temporary buildings.
3) I also had a concern that the gym that was to be used for lunches did not have a HVAC system for the area where the children would be eating lunch.
Your answer was succinct. You stated, in essence, that this was an isolated incident only affecting a few elementary schools and that it could be handled without impacting the rest of the school district. You assured me that my children’s education would not be impacted and that the Klein administration and staff were up to the task. Due to the fact that some parts of the school such as the gym (which has no HVAC) would be open during construction and would serve a dual purpose temporarily, I was concerned for my children’s health and safety during the extensive construction that would take place. You assured me you that my children would be kept safe and a healthy environment would be maintained.
Based on your answer to these questions, I have a couple more questions regarding the use of the new high school that will be used for Klein High School students upon its completion while Klein High School is being rebuilt.
1) What is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School? The situation of the two schools, of course, is nearly identical.
2) Is there any other district in the state or country that has held up the opening of a new school to reduce significant overcrowding across the district so that a significant minority of students within the district did not have to be inconvenienced by their school’s remodeling?
3) Since Klein High is only one year older than Hildebrandt Intermediate, is there a plan to demolition Hildebrandt and allow those students to use a new intermediate while the reconstruction is occurring?
4) Do you plan on using this same approach when the other Klein high schools reach the same age as Klein High?
5) Since all schools that were built prior to the passing of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 are not up to the standards set forth in that act, are you planning on no longer taking advantage of the grandfather clause and updating all schools built before the act?
6) The gym in which my children ate lunch at Northampton Elementary had no A/C at anytime in the area they ate lunch. Are you saying the buildings at Klein High do not have A/C or just that it was not originally built into the building?
7) Since Klein High is the best performing high school in the district from an academic standard, do you think by relegating Klein High’s interests to a point more in line with the rest of the high schools within the district that we may be able to improve the performance at the other high schools?
8) Given Klein High’s high academic performance, is it possible that the overcrowding throughout the district is having a bigger impact on academic performance than the issues you raise about Klein High?
9) Is the overcrowding at Klein High due to the fact that parents of the students at Klein High refused to go along with the original school board plan to rezone some children from Klein High to Klein Collins when it opened and, therefore, all students for Klein Collins were taken from Klein Oak, reducing it to a 4A school?
10) If conditions are so bad at Klein High, why did those parents not jump at the chance to send their children to the newest high school in the district, Klein Collins, when they had a legitimate chance to do so in a way that would have better balanced the district and not had such a negative impact on Klein Oak as it lost many good teachers during this time?
11) I can assure you with the highest level of confidence that use of computers is not something higher institutions of learning place any amount of significance on during admissions. They focus on how well a student did in the fundamentals and on SAT/ACT scores. Do you think if we do not have enough money to address overcrowding for the entire district that we should be spending money on laptops for some of the schools?
12) My final question is the same as my first - what is the difference between my children and the children at Klein High School? I will be happy to let you and the school board meet my children. I am sure then that you will gain a new perspective. I am sure you will see there is no difference and restructure this bond to either include enough money for the entire district or redistribute the existing money across the district to reflect the entire district’s needs.
I know the school board is having a closed meeting this Tuesday, May 6th, at 7:00pm at the Klein ISD administration building. The core purposes of the Open Meetings Act are to enable public access to and to increase public knowledge of government decision making. Please open this meeting to the concerned parents of this district.
Pro $650 Million Dollar Bond Response:
Subject: Re: Open letter to Klein ISD Board of Trustees concerning the 2008 bond
I realize that you are a concerned parent looking out for the best interests of your children. As you may know I participated on the Steering Committee for the 2008 Bond. I can provide some insight into the questions raised in your letter. First of all trying to compare displacing the 900 students at Northampton Elementary in 2005 into T-buildings with displacing the 3000+ students at Klein High is like comparing apples to oranges. NH sits on property that has open space for the T-buildings where KHS does not. At KHS the T-bldgs would have to be placed in the parking lots which is used not only by KHS students and faculty, but by the entire district for athletic events at Klein Memorial Stadium. Also high school students are considerably larger than elementary school students and can have much larger class sizes than the K-4 classes so they would have a more difficult time fitting into the T-bldgs. Also many high school classrooms need extra equipment such as science lab equipment which is difficult to accomodate in T-bldgs. There was a lot of discussion and debate during the Steering Committee about the option of leaving the KHS students intact during the construction. This would mean the construction would take 4 years to complete at a higher price due to escalation of construction costs each year that the work is delayed with the risk of accidents or injury due to having teenaged students present at a demolition/construction site, and the impossible parking situation for football games, track meets, etc. at Klein Memorial Stadium vs moving them to the new school where the timing works perfectly for the KHS students to be away from the construction site with no risk to their safety and the demolition/construction will be complete 2 years sooner. As was discissed in detail at several of the Community Forums where Dr. Cain was available for questions the rebuild of Klein High is necessary from a functional state more than from the year the buildings were built. It was originally built to house 400 students so the hall sizes classroom sizes cafeteria stairwells, etc were designed to handle a much smaller number of students than the 3000 that attend now. In your letter you state that the high school overcrowding won't be addressed until 2013 when the redistricting for the new high school occurs. This is simply not true. As soon as the bond passes construction will begin on a 700 seat addition to Klein Oak and a 500 seat addition to Klein Collins. Those two additions will adress the expected enrollment figures. One thing to consider if this bond does not pass is the overcrowding that exists at Klein Oak and will only continue to get worse. The opposition group claims that another bond issue would be put on the November ballot. I don't believe that timeframe is realistic and that it would be at least a year from now before another bond would appear in an election. The chances of any other plan being voted in is in my opinion very unlikely so we are looking at severe overcrowding at KO. Not only would that negatively impact their education and overall high school experience but it will likely reduce property values in our neighborhood. I know that some of the reasons for the decisions made regarding this plan aren't obvious but once they are discussed they generally become understandable.(!)
I realize that you are a concerned parent looking out for the best interests of your children. As you may know I participated on the Steering Committee for the 2008 Bond. I can provide some insight into the questions raised in your letter. First of all trying to compare displacing the 900 students at Northampton Elementary in 2005 into T-buildings with displacing the 3000+ students at Klein High is like comparing apples to oranges. NH sits on property that has open space for the T-buildings where KHS does not. At KHS the T-bldgs would have to be placed in the parking lots which is used not only by KHS students and faculty, but by the entire district for athletic events at Klein Memorial Stadium. Also high school students are considerably larger than elementary school students and can have much larger class sizes than the K-4 classes so they would have a more difficult time fitting into the T-bldgs. Also many high school classrooms need extra equipment such as science lab equipment which is difficult to accomodate in T-bldgs. There was a lot of discussion and debate during the Steering Committee about the option of leaving the KHS students intact during the construction. This would mean the construction would take 4 years to complete at a higher price due to escalation of construction costs each year that the work is delayed with the risk of accidents or injury due to having teenaged students present at a demolition/construction site, and the impossible parking situation for football games, track meets, etc. at Klein Memorial Stadium vs moving them to the new school where the timing works perfectly for the KHS students to be away from the construction site with no risk to their safety and the demolition/construction will be complete 2 years sooner. As was discissed in detail at several of the Community Forums where Dr. Cain was available for questions the rebuild of Klein High is necessary from a functional state more than from the year the buildings were built. It was originally built to house 400 students so the hall sizes classroom sizes cafeteria stairwells, etc were designed to handle a much smaller number of students than the 3000 that attend now. In your letter you state that the high school overcrowding won't be addressed until 2013 when the redistricting for the new high school occurs. This is simply not true. As soon as the bond passes construction will begin on a 700 seat addition to Klein Oak and a 500 seat addition to Klein Collins. Those two additions will adress the expected enrollment figures. One thing to consider if this bond does not pass is the overcrowding that exists at Klein Oak and will only continue to get worse. The opposition group claims that another bond issue would be put on the November ballot. I don't believe that timeframe is realistic and that it would be at least a year from now before another bond would appear in an election. The chances of any other plan being voted in is in my opinion very unlikely so we are looking at severe overcrowding at KO. Not only would that negatively impact their education and overall high school experience but it will likely reduce property values in our neighborhood. I know that some of the reasons for the decisions made regarding this plan aren't obvious but once they are discussed they generally become understandable.(!)
More questions from than answers, Vote NO!
Subject: RE: Open letter to Klein ISD Board of Trustees concerning the 2008 bond
Academically, Klein High far out performs every school in the district and has continued to increase in its academic standing as the other high schools have decreased. Klein High in 1999 had an academic score of 185 and Klein Oak had an academic score of 164. The higher the number, the better the score. These are hard numbers based on standardized tests. Since 1999, the gap of 21 points has widened to 50 points. This is an increase in disparity of over 100% in less than 10 years. I have included graphs below showing the 2007 comparisons in detail along with a link where you can research yourself. Klein High ranks 109 in the state and Klein Oak currently ranks 350. If we continue as we have in the past to spend disparately within the district, this gap in school performance will continue to widen as it has historically.
I guess what I keep struggling with is getting an answer to my questions. I keep hearing the same statements but they do not seem to address my questions. Dr. Cain nor the school board have answered my questions. Perhaps I need to ask them more clearly. I will restructure them in the manner in which I think you attempted to answer them. I will not re-ask the questions you did not address.
Regarding the difference between Klein High and the elementary schools. You may recall that there were 4 elementary schools that had the problem with mold and the total number of students exceeded 3000. I agree there is a difference but it favors the elementary students not the high school students. I have had a high school student and an elementary student. The high school student is much more capable of taking care of himself and adapting to difficulties in his environment.
I have heard Dr. Cain's explanations. However, I have a hard time reconciling them with his own engineers’ recommendation to spend $13.8 million to remodel Klein High as opposed to $150 million to rebuild it. It seems like the engineers were hired to make a recommendation and then that recommendation was ignored.
Were the engineers involved in the steering committee discussion?
What was the reason their recommendation was not followed?
Are you saying it would cost more money to remodel Klein High over 4 years than it would to delay the opening of the new school, demolition Klein High and rebuild it completely?
The $13.8 million was a total estimate correct?
Since this approach makes sense with Klein High will we use it with other high schools or intermediates or is Klein High a special case?
Has any other school district in the state or country done this?
When it comes to the bond passing, we can get another bond up for a vote very quickly. Several other districts including Spring have done this in less time.
A bigger question is why are they having us vote on this in a non-election cycle when this will be the only thing on the ballot?
We must stop robbing from one part of the district to guarantee that the other part continues to improve. This bond exemplifies the wrong philosophy. Lets help the kids that need it.
Tables and Figures
http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindivphp/SchID_16609.html
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/search.aspx
Klein Oak
Test
Score
State-WideRanking
Region-WideRanking
Standard Ranking
223.1
***
***
Grade 9 Reading Percent Pass
90.0
***
***
Grade 9 Math Percent Pass
74.0
***
***
Grade 9 All Tests Percent Pass
72.0
***
***
Grade 10 Reading Percent Pass
91.0
***
***
Grade 10 Math Percent Pass
75.0
***
***
Grade 10 Science Percent Pass
67.0
***
***
Grade 10 Soc Studies Percent Pass
89.0
***
***
Grade 10 All Tests Percent Pass
60.0
***
***
AP/IB Percent Take
25.4
***
***
AP/IB Percent Above Crit.
60.5
***
***
SAT/ACT Percent Take
65.7
***
***
SAT Average
1060.0
***
***
ACT Average
22.3
***
***
Klein High
Test
Score
State-WideRanking
Region-WideRanking
Standard Ranking
273.7
***
***
Grade 9 Reading Percent Pass
95.0
***
***
Grade 9 Math Percent Pass
83.0
***
***
Grade 9 All Tests Percent Pass
82.0
***
***
Grade 10 Reading Percent Pass
96.0
***
***
Grade 10 Math Percent Pass
85.0
***
***
Grade 10 Science Percent Pass
80.0
***
***
Grade 10 Soc Studies Percent Pass
95.0
***
***
Grade 10 All Tests Percent Pass
74.0
***
***
AP/IB Percent Take
20.3
***
***
AP/IB Percent Above Crit.
79.5
***
***
SAT/ACT Percent Take
97.4
***
***
SAT Average
1085.0
***
***
ACT Average
23.7
***
***
Academically, Klein High far out performs every school in the district and has continued to increase in its academic standing as the other high schools have decreased. Klein High in 1999 had an academic score of 185 and Klein Oak had an academic score of 164. The higher the number, the better the score. These are hard numbers based on standardized tests. Since 1999, the gap of 21 points has widened to 50 points. This is an increase in disparity of over 100% in less than 10 years. I have included graphs below showing the 2007 comparisons in detail along with a link where you can research yourself. Klein High ranks 109 in the state and Klein Oak currently ranks 350. If we continue as we have in the past to spend disparately within the district, this gap in school performance will continue to widen as it has historically.
I guess what I keep struggling with is getting an answer to my questions. I keep hearing the same statements but they do not seem to address my questions. Dr. Cain nor the school board have answered my questions. Perhaps I need to ask them more clearly. I will restructure them in the manner in which I think you attempted to answer them. I will not re-ask the questions you did not address.
Regarding the difference between Klein High and the elementary schools. You may recall that there were 4 elementary schools that had the problem with mold and the total number of students exceeded 3000. I agree there is a difference but it favors the elementary students not the high school students. I have had a high school student and an elementary student. The high school student is much more capable of taking care of himself and adapting to difficulties in his environment.
I have heard Dr. Cain's explanations. However, I have a hard time reconciling them with his own engineers’ recommendation to spend $13.8 million to remodel Klein High as opposed to $150 million to rebuild it. It seems like the engineers were hired to make a recommendation and then that recommendation was ignored.
Were the engineers involved in the steering committee discussion?
What was the reason their recommendation was not followed?
Are you saying it would cost more money to remodel Klein High over 4 years than it would to delay the opening of the new school, demolition Klein High and rebuild it completely?
The $13.8 million was a total estimate correct?
Since this approach makes sense with Klein High will we use it with other high schools or intermediates or is Klein High a special case?
Has any other school district in the state or country done this?
When it comes to the bond passing, we can get another bond up for a vote very quickly. Several other districts including Spring have done this in less time.
A bigger question is why are they having us vote on this in a non-election cycle when this will be the only thing on the ballot?
We must stop robbing from one part of the district to guarantee that the other part continues to improve. This bond exemplifies the wrong philosophy. Lets help the kids that need it.
Tables and Figures
http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindivphp/SchID_16609.html
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/search.aspx
Klein Oak
Test
Score
State-WideRanking
Region-WideRanking
Standard Ranking
223.1
***
***
Grade 9 Reading Percent Pass
90.0
***
***
Grade 9 Math Percent Pass
74.0
***
***
Grade 9 All Tests Percent Pass
72.0
***
***
Grade 10 Reading Percent Pass
91.0
***
***
Grade 10 Math Percent Pass
75.0
***
***
Grade 10 Science Percent Pass
67.0
***
***
Grade 10 Soc Studies Percent Pass
89.0
***
***
Grade 10 All Tests Percent Pass
60.0
***
***
AP/IB Percent Take
25.4
***
***
AP/IB Percent Above Crit.
60.5
***
***
SAT/ACT Percent Take
65.7
***
***
SAT Average
1060.0
***
***
ACT Average
22.3
***
***
Klein High
Test
Score
State-WideRanking
Region-WideRanking
Standard Ranking
273.7
***
***
Grade 9 Reading Percent Pass
95.0
***
***
Grade 9 Math Percent Pass
83.0
***
***
Grade 9 All Tests Percent Pass
82.0
***
***
Grade 10 Reading Percent Pass
96.0
***
***
Grade 10 Math Percent Pass
85.0
***
***
Grade 10 Science Percent Pass
80.0
***
***
Grade 10 Soc Studies Percent Pass
95.0
***
***
Grade 10 All Tests Percent Pass
74.0
***
***
AP/IB Percent Take
20.3
***
***
AP/IB Percent Above Crit.
79.5
***
***
SAT/ACT Percent Take
97.4
***
***
SAT Average
1085.0
***
***
ACT Average
23.7
***
***
Klein ISD parents will be Voting NO!
Open letter to Klein ISD parents, Board of Trustees, and administrators:
When we heard there was going to be a school bond proposal on a ballot soon, we were not surprised. With all the housing developments in the northern part of Klein Independent School District – including Auburn Lakes and many others – it was common sense that a new bond was needed to address growth.
However, we definitely were surprised to read that, while the original wording for this bond proposal did include two new high schools in the northern end of the district, as well as many elementary and intermediate schools, the wording has been revised – and the revisions don’t even come close to addressing the overcrowding at two current high schools (Klein Oak and Klein Collins), but will actually create further overcrowding by directing 20% of the bond money to raze and rebuild Klein High School.
If you haven’t read all about it at www.kleinforall.com, you need to do so. Why should our property taxes increase to fund the complete razing and rebuilding of Klein High School while doing nothing to ease the ever-growing student population where we live? This makes about as much sense as our taxes that go to METRO to pay for buses and trains that we cannot make use of.
But in addition to that boondoggle (Klein HS parents must have put together a special interest group to come up with the revised wording in the bond proposal, huh?), the other aspect of this whole thing that defies logic is the idea to put laptop computers in the hands of all high school students. What idiocy this is, especially in the face of what large and small, public and private school districts are already discovering all over our country: 1) that laptops in the hands of all students does not raise academic performance, and 2) that technology for the sake of technology isn’t a wise use of public money in schools. Please read the following articles. If you want links to each of them, please send an email to one of the email addresses at the end of this letter.
------------------------------
“A School That’s Too High On Gizmos” (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803271_pf.html
“Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops” (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html
------------------------------
A much better use of the $38 million Klein ISD wants to spend would be to invest in a district program that will allow parents daily access to their children’s progress. Cy-Fair ISD, Humble ISD, Tomball ISD, and Spring ISD all have on-line programs by which parents can check daily attendance, daily grades, class rankings, and more. Klein ISD’s program called Chancery has the same capabilities, but the district has never implemented these functions. In Klein ISD, we must wait until progress reports and report cards are handed out to learn how our children are doing. As students enter high school and begin planning for college, this information is critical, yet Klein ISD parents are flying blind as college preparations are made.
We’re planning to vote NO on this bond proposal and to encourage everyone else to also vote NO unless these things change:
The building plan needs to return to the building of two new high schools in the northern end of the district, and a remodel of Klein HS.
The laptops-for-all program needs to be scrapped.
There are far better ways our tax dollars can be spent. We certainly don’t need to sit still and fund projects and buildings that are not addressing school capacities district-wide, not to mention are not positive for students and teachers.
VOTE NO! on May 10th at the Klein ISD School Bond Election!
When we heard there was going to be a school bond proposal on a ballot soon, we were not surprised. With all the housing developments in the northern part of Klein Independent School District – including Auburn Lakes and many others – it was common sense that a new bond was needed to address growth.
However, we definitely were surprised to read that, while the original wording for this bond proposal did include two new high schools in the northern end of the district, as well as many elementary and intermediate schools, the wording has been revised – and the revisions don’t even come close to addressing the overcrowding at two current high schools (Klein Oak and Klein Collins), but will actually create further overcrowding by directing 20% of the bond money to raze and rebuild Klein High School.
If you haven’t read all about it at www.kleinforall.com, you need to do so. Why should our property taxes increase to fund the complete razing and rebuilding of Klein High School while doing nothing to ease the ever-growing student population where we live? This makes about as much sense as our taxes that go to METRO to pay for buses and trains that we cannot make use of.
But in addition to that boondoggle (Klein HS parents must have put together a special interest group to come up with the revised wording in the bond proposal, huh?), the other aspect of this whole thing that defies logic is the idea to put laptop computers in the hands of all high school students. What idiocy this is, especially in the face of what large and small, public and private school districts are already discovering all over our country: 1) that laptops in the hands of all students does not raise academic performance, and 2) that technology for the sake of technology isn’t a wise use of public money in schools. Please read the following articles. If you want links to each of them, please send an email to one of the email addresses at the end of this letter.
------------------------------
“A School That’s Too High On Gizmos” (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803271_pf.html
“Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops” (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html
------------------------------
A much better use of the $38 million Klein ISD wants to spend would be to invest in a district program that will allow parents daily access to their children’s progress. Cy-Fair ISD, Humble ISD, Tomball ISD, and Spring ISD all have on-line programs by which parents can check daily attendance, daily grades, class rankings, and more. Klein ISD’s program called Chancery has the same capabilities, but the district has never implemented these functions. In Klein ISD, we must wait until progress reports and report cards are handed out to learn how our children are doing. As students enter high school and begin planning for college, this information is critical, yet Klein ISD parents are flying blind as college preparations are made.
We’re planning to vote NO on this bond proposal and to encourage everyone else to also vote NO unless these things change:
The building plan needs to return to the building of two new high schools in the northern end of the district, and a remodel of Klein HS.
The laptops-for-all program needs to be scrapped.
There are far better ways our tax dollars can be spent. We certainly don’t need to sit still and fund projects and buildings that are not addressing school capacities district-wide, not to mention are not positive for students and teachers.
VOTE NO! on May 10th at the Klein ISD School Bond Election!
Klein ISD Volunteer recommends Vote NO!
Why is Klein ISD wanting to give laptops to all the Klein ISD students, and yet…
NOT offering more dual-credit coursework on campus to our Klein Oak students, so that they can enter college with at least two years worth of college credits? This would really help out parents & students as colleges are raising tuition rates almost yearly and student loans are becoming harder than ever to find. Other districts in Texas have offered this to their students with great success, and yet Klein doesn’t.
NOT offering online instant access to our children’s daily attendance, daily test grades, major test grades, upcoming major tests & projects, GPA (grade point average) & class rank. Surrounding districts such as Humble, Tomball, and Spring, as well as many others in Texas, have given this ability to their parents for many years, and yet Klein still doesn’t. This puts our students at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to applying for colleges in Texas, which use the Top 10% rule as the gold standard for admissions policies.
NOT allowing teachers to utilize an educational device by keeping one laptop per child in their classrooms, rather than force each child to carry one from class to class? This would allow each student the use of a laptop while in class and then leave it there when class is ended. The teacher would be responsible for the laptops usage in their classroom. If students have a need to bring a laptop home, they could check one out in a similar fashion as library books are checked out today. Additionally, the school network could be securitized in a manner to facilitate access from any computer. Mandating students take these expensive devices home every night is unnecessary and costly.
NOT allowing our students to take Engineering as a science course, participate in any science fairs or the Science Olympiad? In mid-2007, the State Board of Education indicated that Texas high schools could offer a course in Engineering for credit as one of the four science course credits now required for graduation. Yet, Klein Oak doesn’t offer it. Ask your child’s science teacher why our schools don’t participate in science fairs; I think you may be very shocked to hear the answer given. I highly encourage to go online and read in its’ entirety the following short article written about the dire need to get more of our students interested in math & science: http://www.engr.utexas.edu/spotlights/2008/highschool/
NOT worried more about educational “equity” and “parity” the appearance of the school buildings? During this entire bond process, we’ve heard some of the Klein High parents crow about how their “flagship” Klein High will now look better than all the rest of the high schools, and we’ve heard Dr. Cain say that he “just thinks it’s time” to re-build Klein High, a school just barely 40 years old.
YET, a study just published by Children at Risk, ranked Klein Oak in the third tier (#74), while Klein High was ranked in the first tier, (#18). In reading the report at http://www.childrenatrisk.org/ it’s very eye-opening to find that Klein Oak is only graduating about 50% of their students under the Recommended High School Plan or Distinguished Plan, while Klein High, Klein Collins and Klein Forest are graduating over 70% of their students under those plans.
YET, the only relief Klein Oak gets under the proposed bond is to add a wing onto an already overcrowded school? With our current freshmen class at almost 1,000 students, our Klein Oak could become a school with 4,000 students one day very soon, and with current educational studies saying that any high school over 2,000 students experiences more truancy and more drop-outs, what will the future look like at Klein Oak? Obviously, whatever shape the buildings are in at Klein High, it hasn’t hurt their graduation rates or SAT scores. Let’s talk about educational “equity” and graduation rate “parity” for a change.
In conclusion, in the rush to force these laptops/tablet computers into the hands of all our students, are we ignoring the more basic needs and the fundamental foundations necessary to create successful students? Is the tried and true approach of teachers using books and blackboards and sponsoring science fairs so old-fashioned and out of place that it needs to be replaced by an unproven approach of laptops for all? There are countless studies available that would suggest otherwise. In our quest to force all of our schoolchildren to use laptops, are we ignoring proven methods that work just as well, for a lot less money? Maybe it’s time to re-examine our priorities and quit trying to impress everyone with all our fancy new gadgets and our super-sized schools and instead get back to impressing them with our incredibly high graduation rates and SAT scores and admissions into the best colleges in the nation instead. I’d really love to see that happen someday in Klein ISD, and I don’t think "laptops for all" is the way to get there. Vote NO on May 10th to the proposed Klein ISD school bond!
Klein ISD parent asks you to Vote NO!
BIG schools – do we need them?
What is considered an optimum size for a high school in this country? I went to Google and searched exactly that – optimum size for high schools – and although it’s hard to find absolute agreement, research indicates that schools of 3,000+ are not good for educating kids – of any age.
What is considered an optimum size for a high school in this country? I went to Google and searched exactly that – optimum size for high schools – and although it’s hard to find absolute agreement, research indicates that schools of 3,000+ are not good for educating kids – of any age.
You can have all the huge and gorgeous buildings you want, but huge schools are not good for kids. A high school’s overall job is to educate youngsters to graduate from grade 12 with a state-defined level of competency or proficiency, which can be found on the TEA website.
One ERIC article states this: “Using 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade data for the same students from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, researchers examined achievement growth for schools with 100 to 2,800 students. Math achievement rises as school size increases to about 600 students, holds steady to about 900 students, and then diminishes. Overall, students gained more in high-socioeconomic status schools, regardless of school size. (MLH)”
These ideas are based on a 20-year old study, but basically students and teachers and counselors have not changed all that much. Technology definitely has, and administrators and school boards and their goals have definitely changed, too, but if one wants really good education for their kids, these humongous schools are not the answer, no matter how pretty they are!
Another main issue I have with this particular school bond, in addition to those already mentioned, is this: I don’t believe the superintendent and board are allowing for a sufficient number of new elementary and intermediate schools; Klein ISD is are not paying sufficient attention to the projected enrollments at ALL AGE LEVELS.
Have any of these folks taken a drive around the northern and northeastern parts of their district? North of FM2920? It's growing exponentially! Who do they think are moving into all these affordable, family-size houses?
You can read more about this entire issue from different angles at these websites – and be sure to read the comments, too!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5696260.html
http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2008/04/how_big_is_too_big_1.html
Have any of these folks taken a drive around the northern and northeastern parts of their district? North of FM2920? It's growing exponentially! Who do they think are moving into all these affordable, family-size houses?
You can read more about this entire issue from different angles at these websites – and be sure to read the comments, too!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5696260.html
http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2008/04/how_big_is_too_big_1.html
Klein ISD homeowner urges to Vote NO!
As you may know, Klein ISD is considering a bond proposal that will go to the voters on May 10, 2008. At the time of writing, the current proposal is for a whopping $640 million bond, 20% of which is to rebuild Klein High School.
Dr. Cain has said that the current facility is “up to code” http://www.kleinisd.net/docs/kisd.min112907.pdf yet they want to spend nearly $151,000,000 to rebuild Klein High School and the annex that houses the TEP/AEP program. There is no doubt that Klein High School is an old school and needs some remodeling. But it is not a wise use of our tax dollars to spend $151,000,000 right now to rebuild this facility when our district has such a need for building NEW schools. Certainly the current Klein High School, which is safe and sustainable, can last another 4 years until the next bond referendum is developed.
The current plan calls for High School #5 to open on Spring Cypress in 2011. But there will be no rezoning from 2011 – 2013 while this new facility houses Klein High School. So while there is a new high school that is needed in order to relieve overcrowding at Klein Oak and Klein Collins, no relief comes until 2013. This alone is reason to vote against this proposal. Klein Oak is terribly overcrowded, and we need relief now, not in 2013!
$640 million is a huge amount for what we NEED to accomplish. We definitely need new schools, but we have to be smart about how we accomplish this. Only $302.7 million of this bond provides for “new seats”. Of course we have a need for more than just new schools; existing schools need repairs, we need more busses, etc. But as one person said, “There are a lot of things I’d like to do to my house, I just can’t do them all at once.”
While our area is still experiencing a tremendous amount of growth, the overall economy is struggling. We need a bond proposal that addresses the needs of the entire community while recognizing we can’t do everything at one time. The KISD Board of Trustees will be voting on this proposal at their March 11 board meeting. Unless they make some major changes to it, I encourage you stand up and vote NO. Then they will be forced to listen to the community and bring us a bond proposal that includes everything we NEED, not everything we WANT.
For more information, go to http://www.kleinforall.com/ and stay tuned for more updates….
Dr. Cain has said that the current facility is “up to code” http://www.kleinisd.net/docs/kisd.min112907.pdf yet they want to spend nearly $151,000,000 to rebuild Klein High School and the annex that houses the TEP/AEP program. There is no doubt that Klein High School is an old school and needs some remodeling. But it is not a wise use of our tax dollars to spend $151,000,000 right now to rebuild this facility when our district has such a need for building NEW schools. Certainly the current Klein High School, which is safe and sustainable, can last another 4 years until the next bond referendum is developed.
The current plan calls for High School #5 to open on Spring Cypress in 2011. But there will be no rezoning from 2011 – 2013 while this new facility houses Klein High School. So while there is a new high school that is needed in order to relieve overcrowding at Klein Oak and Klein Collins, no relief comes until 2013. This alone is reason to vote against this proposal. Klein Oak is terribly overcrowded, and we need relief now, not in 2013!
$640 million is a huge amount for what we NEED to accomplish. We definitely need new schools, but we have to be smart about how we accomplish this. Only $302.7 million of this bond provides for “new seats”. Of course we have a need for more than just new schools; existing schools need repairs, we need more busses, etc. But as one person said, “There are a lot of things I’d like to do to my house, I just can’t do them all at once.”
While our area is still experiencing a tremendous amount of growth, the overall economy is struggling. We need a bond proposal that addresses the needs of the entire community while recognizing we can’t do everything at one time. The KISD Board of Trustees will be voting on this proposal at their March 11 board meeting. Unless they make some major changes to it, I encourage you stand up and vote NO. Then they will be forced to listen to the community and bring us a bond proposal that includes everything we NEED, not everything we WANT.
For more information, go to http://www.kleinforall.com/ and stay tuned for more updates….
Klein ISD resident says, "Vote NO!"
Reasons to vote NO!
1. We are in a recession. We’ve all noticed the rise in food and gasoline prices, among other things. Who wants higher property taxes now?
2. Not nearly enough of this bond is earmarked for new elementary and intermediate schools. Just go to www.kleinforall.com and click on the Overcrowding link at the left. (The numbers are taken from KISD's own data. (www.kleinisd.net)
3. Even if the amount of the bond weren't exorbitant, the plans for the use of this money are not very good, including the concepts explained in the Houston Chronicle and at blogHOUSTON.net.
Please vote on May 10 at Northampton Elementary School – and I don’t believe I'm alone in hoping lots of people will vote NO.
1. We are in a recession. We’ve all noticed the rise in food and gasoline prices, among other things. Who wants higher property taxes now?
2. Not nearly enough of this bond is earmarked for new elementary and intermediate schools. Just go to www.kleinforall.com and click on the Overcrowding link at the left. (The numbers are taken from KISD's own data. (www.kleinisd.net)
3. Even if the amount of the bond weren't exorbitant, the plans for the use of this money are not very good, including the concepts explained in the Houston Chronicle and at blogHOUSTON.net.
Please vote on May 10 at Northampton Elementary School – and I don’t believe I'm alone in hoping lots of people will vote NO.
Klein ISD mom worried about Klein Oak:
Dear Dr. Cain-
As you are aware, the Houston Chronicle has just published the findings of the Children at Risk group which ranks the Houston area schools. I remember meeting with you and Dr. Robert Sanborn, who heads up this group, and discussing the low ranking of Klein Oak not too long ago. I had thought that since then we would have seen Klein Oak rise up the list since then, but actually Klein Oak has dropped from #40 last year to #74 this year!
I am hoping that you or someone in your administration can help me understand why this has happened. As a matter of fact, here's how the other Klein ISD high schools fared: Klein High went from #19 to #18, Klein Collins went from #26 to #47 and Klein Forest went from #73 to #113. In Dr. Robert Sanborn's comments to the Houston Chronicle, he said,
"Klein is an under-performing school district.
Klein has an affluent population. They have parents who really care.
It seems like they're doing all the basic things but nothing extraordinary, and that is reflected in their rankings."
"It is troubling when you have a big school district like HISD, and you see what a wonderful job they can do with some students, and then you have these other schools that it looks like the students are just being thrown away.
We need to do a better job with all students."
"In Texas, we love football, and that means we have to have big high schools, but we should also love being No. 1 academically."
Some of the numbers that puzzled me about the ranking of Klein Oak:
1. The percentage of KOHS students taking the SAT/ACT is listed at only 65.7%. (Klein High is at 97.4%.) The Children at Risk group thinks that schools should be pushing for a 100% participation in this number, so Klein Oak ranks quite low in this regard.
2. The percentage of KOHS students graduating under the Recommended High School Plan or Distinguished Achievement Plan is listed at 55.4%. (Klein High is at 73.2%.) This is one of the most troubling things on this rankings list to me. These numbers came straight from the TEA School Report Card, and I can't understand how only a little over half of our students at Oak are graduating under the RHSP/DAP, which means the other half are only taking the minimum recommended courses.
3. The percentage of KOHS students taking AP/IB courses is at 25.4%, however only 63% are achieving a rating of Above Criterion on their respective AP/IB exams. (Klein High is at 20.3%, and 80.2% testing above criterion.) This means Oak student are taking the AP/IB courses, and yet not scoring high numbers on the exams for these courses.
4. The percentage of KOHS students graduating is at 68.04%. (Klein High is at 80.40%.) This is extremely troubling to see such a huge disparity between these two schools. Can anyone explain how this has happened?
5. Average class size at KOHS is 26.2, while Klein High is at 23.6. I know that you have said, Dr. Cain, that adding a wing onto already overcrowded KOHS will alleviate the overcrowding, but having KOHS balloon in population to 3500-3600 is not a desirable trend in high-performing school districts these days. If you take a look at the highest performing schools on the Children at Risk report, you will notice that most of these schools are around 2,000 students only.
As you are aware, the Houston Chronicle has just published the findings of the Children at Risk group which ranks the Houston area schools. I remember meeting with you and Dr. Robert Sanborn, who heads up this group, and discussing the low ranking of Klein Oak not too long ago. I had thought that since then we would have seen Klein Oak rise up the list since then, but actually Klein Oak has dropped from #40 last year to #74 this year!
I am hoping that you or someone in your administration can help me understand why this has happened. As a matter of fact, here's how the other Klein ISD high schools fared: Klein High went from #19 to #18, Klein Collins went from #26 to #47 and Klein Forest went from #73 to #113. In Dr. Robert Sanborn's comments to the Houston Chronicle, he said,
"Klein is an under-performing school district.
Klein has an affluent population. They have parents who really care.
It seems like they're doing all the basic things but nothing extraordinary, and that is reflected in their rankings."
"It is troubling when you have a big school district like HISD, and you see what a wonderful job they can do with some students, and then you have these other schools that it looks like the students are just being thrown away.
We need to do a better job with all students."
"In Texas, we love football, and that means we have to have big high schools, but we should also love being No. 1 academically."
Some of the numbers that puzzled me about the ranking of Klein Oak:
1. The percentage of KOHS students taking the SAT/ACT is listed at only 65.7%. (Klein High is at 97.4%.) The Children at Risk group thinks that schools should be pushing for a 100% participation in this number, so Klein Oak ranks quite low in this regard.
2. The percentage of KOHS students graduating under the Recommended High School Plan or Distinguished Achievement Plan is listed at 55.4%. (Klein High is at 73.2%.) This is one of the most troubling things on this rankings list to me. These numbers came straight from the TEA School Report Card, and I can't understand how only a little over half of our students at Oak are graduating under the RHSP/DAP, which means the other half are only taking the minimum recommended courses.
3. The percentage of KOHS students taking AP/IB courses is at 25.4%, however only 63% are achieving a rating of Above Criterion on their respective AP/IB exams. (Klein High is at 20.3%, and 80.2% testing above criterion.) This means Oak student are taking the AP/IB courses, and yet not scoring high numbers on the exams for these courses.
4. The percentage of KOHS students graduating is at 68.04%. (Klein High is at 80.40%.) This is extremely troubling to see such a huge disparity between these two schools. Can anyone explain how this has happened?
5. Average class size at KOHS is 26.2, while Klein High is at 23.6. I know that you have said, Dr. Cain, that adding a wing onto already overcrowded KOHS will alleviate the overcrowding, but having KOHS balloon in population to 3500-3600 is not a desirable trend in high-performing school districts these days. If you take a look at the highest performing schools on the Children at Risk report, you will notice that most of these schools are around 2,000 students only.
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