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.(!)