Allen ISD called a $23.6 million bond election for November. Here’s what’s on the ballot

Allen ISD’s board of trustees called for a bond election for the second straight year, with proposals totaling $23.6 million.

This comes after the district’s $222 million bond election in November, in which two propositions worth $214 million passed by a margin of fewer than 20 votes. The other two propositions worth more than $7.5 million failed. A record 48,000-plus people voted on the bond propositions for Allen ISD last year, according to a district news release from 2020.

Now, the school board is coming back to voters for another bond election with some similar items from last year’s election.

Here’s what November’s ballot will look like for Allen ISD voters, and what the bonds would pay for.

Proposition A

This proposition, worth $15.9 million, would pay for several facility updates, including:

• Repairing and updating the Allen High School tennis complex
• Updating the weightlifting center at the Lowery Freshmen Center, which is commonly known as “The Barn.” The Barn has never been updated since it was built more than 20 years ago.
• Updates to the Allen ISD Activities Center, which sits next to Eagle Stadium and houses multiple student activities and sport teams practices. It has not been updated since 2000.

Proposition B

If this $7.7 million proposition passes, it will pay for turf and track improvements at various Allen ISD athletic facilities.

Proposition B would also pay for updates to the following facilities:

• Replacement of aging track at two campuses: Lowery Freshman Center and Allen High School.
• Replacement of aging turf at several facilities: Curtis Middle School, Lowery Freshman Center, the Allen High School track facility, and Eagle Stadium.
• The addition of turf and track at Ford Middle School. Ford is the only middle school campus in AISD without a turf and track.

Allen ISD’s two other middle schools, Ereckson and Curtis, have tracks with turf. The district said one of the reasons funding for a turf field at Ford Middle School was on the ballot is because not having a track or turf facility has reportedly caused problems for athletes. For example, Ford runners have to be bussed to other district facilities for practice. If they face delays after practice, athletes can miss their busses from the Ford campus back to their homes. As a result, some athletes have reportedly chosen to drop track and field because they did not have a way home if they missed their bus, the district said.

Because the other two middle schools have a track and field facility, Ereckson and Curtis students are not faced with the same transportation-related obstacles when considering whether or not to join their school track team.

An item similar to Proposition B was on the November 2020 ballot. It failed with more than 61% of voters against it.

Chief Financial Officer Johnny Hill said this is a no-tax rate increase bond election. If both Proposition A and B pass, it would add $23.6 million to the district’s debt schedule without raising the district’s property tax rate.

The district is planning to host tours of the facilities on the ballot ahead of the election. The tours will be scheduled sometime for September or October, Hicks said.

Early voting will take place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 29.

Election Day is Nov. 2. The last day to register for the Nov. 2 election is Oct. 4.

For information on how to register to vote in Collin County, click here.