Following a recommendation from the district’s Facility Advisory Committee, the Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees unanimously called a bond election for May 6. If approved, the $59,950,000 bond, made up of three propositions, will fund district-wide improvements, including but not limited to, Safety and Security Upgrades, ADA/Code Improvements, and a Multi-Purpose Indoor Student Activity Center.
A school bond is similar to a home mortgage. It is a contract to repay money borrowed over time with a fixed, tax-exempt interest rate. Bonds are approved/authorized by voters and later sold by a school district to lenders/underwriters to raise funds to pay for the costs of construction, acquisitions, renovations and/or equipment.
The Brownwood ISD facilities included within the bond proposals do not meet current ADA standards, and ADA/Code improvements in the bond include ramp access, aisles & stairs renovated for code compliance, and ADA parking. Residents Sarah McNeese and Jana Brown shared some of the challenges they’ve experienced with the lack of ADA compliant facilities.
Sarah McNeese
“My mom had a stroke last year and she walks with a walker, so to get her into Gordon Wood we have to call three or four days in advance and arrange a ride up for both my parents. My dad walks with a cane as well.
“I have to bring them to the bottom of the ramp, help them out of the car, help them into the golf cart and the golf cart helps them up. In the meantime, I have to go park the car, bring their seats up and hope that it’s not so crowded that I can’t meet the golf cart at the top of the ramp.
“The walkway is really crowded so the golf cart stops traffic in both directions. When it stops, there’s not enough width for my parents to get out easily on the narrow walkway. Then I have help them two or three steps up to their seats, and then when we leave it has to be done all over.
“There are several other parents of kids whose parents are doing the same thing – riding the golf cart up and back down. It takes a good 20 to 30 extra minutes for us and families like ours to get in and out of the games.
“They can’t really go to the bathroom because that requires another golf cart trip down to the bathroom. And then once you’re in the bathrooms there may be one handicapped stall but I’m not sure.
“Warren Gym is the same way. We have to get someone to help her up to the steps to the gym and then up the steps to the seats and back down again. It’s that way for all the school facilities, they’re just not handicap-accessible in any kind of format, and definitely not the bathrooms or the stands at the baseball field.”
Jana Brown
“I’m the chair of the ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) so I’m real big into having things ADA compliant, not only for my family but for everyone else. We need to come into modern times and get everything up to date.
“We have a 5-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome and my mother who’s not quite 70 but very physically challenged. The ramp at the stadium is just so steep and there are entirely too many stairs for her to climb.
“Before every game we text the people who drive the golf carts at the stadium and let them know what time we’re going to be there, and we have to be there early so they can pick us up on the golf carts and take us to our seats so she can watch her grandson, who’s a freshman, so we still have three more years to deal with this. Then we’re the last ones out because everyone has to be out of the way so the golf cart can drive through.
“The restrooms at the football field are also on an incline so my mother still can’t get there, we have to use the golf cart with that. And with my 5-year-old, the stalls are just so small and I can’t shut the door with her. That’s definitely a problem.
“Then during basketball, because of the seating situation, we have to sit on the other side to watch games at Warren Gym with the opposing fans.”
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The following are the propositions that will be on the May 6 ballot and you can vote for one, two, three, or none:
Proposition A, at $27,650,000, features the following district-wide projects:
- Safety and security upgrades across the district
- Renovate Snodgrass Facility
- New field house at high school (locker rooms, weight room, training room, conference room, offices, storage, laundry)
- Renovate locker rooms at high school
- Accessible seating in high school gym
- Renovate middle school locker rooms
- New gym flooring at all elementary campuses
- New intermediate school auditorium seats
Proposition B, at $16,300,000, revolves around the following improvements to Gordon Wood Stadium:
- Home bleacher addition (1,000 seats)
- ADA/code improvements (Ramp access, aisles and stairs renovated for code compliance, ADA parking)
- New lights
- New concessions/restrooms
- New press box with elevator
- New turf and track resurface
Proposition C, at $16,000,000, calls for the construction of an indoor student activity center at BHS and additional facility upgrades that will feature:
- Use by band, baseball, softball, football, soccer, PE, and others
- 80 yards of turf
- Training room, dressing rooms, storage, offices
- Tennis improvements (Remove/replace courts, new scoreboard, new lights, new bleachers, windscreen)
- Baseball/Softball improvements (renovation of baseball field with new bleachers, dugouts, backstop, canopy over batting cages); New lights for baseball and softball fields
More information on the bond can be found at BrownwoodISDBond.com or to watch a recorded presentation click HERE.
Election Day is Saturday, May 6. Polling locations in Brownwood are the Brown County Elections Office at 613 N. Fisk and the Brownwood ISD Central Office, located at 2707 Southside Drive. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
* The preceding content was approved by and sponsored by the Brownwood Pride PAC