Bond Advisory Committee Meeting Recap #4

The Bond Advisory Committee met for the fourth time to hear a report on the status of the 2023 MISD School Bond.

The committee was reminded of its roles and responsibilities and heard reports on construction and project timelines; finance reports; and communication and community engagement efforts.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Campus project signs have been installed in front of the campuses. Each sign informs the public of the specific projects unique to the specific campus along with a QR code directing the public to the 2023 bond website for more information.

Updates have been made to MidlandBond2023.com, including a revamped Finance page that includes all press releases related to finance, bond sales and anticipated bond sales. Videos have been added to the Bond Advisory webpage along with a section dedicated to meeting recaps.

Since the committee last met, the groundbreaking of the new elementary school has taken place, and a community survey was distributed asking for nominations for the name and mascot of the new school. Per district policy, a committee was formed and will seek approval from the MISD Board of Trustees in September.

OPERATIONS

Project progress on the new elementary school, new high schools, elementary school safety and security updates, middle school updates, and the site improvements taking place at Midland Freshman High School were presented.

The new elementary school is on schedule to open in the fall of 2025. Site work is complete, sub-slab utilities are in, and the grade foundations and slab will be poured soon.

Work on the two new high schools is well underway. The Construction Managers at Risk (CMARs) have been selected and design meetings with district user groups have taken place. Schematic design is scheduled to be complete next month and twelve meetings have taken place with the CMARs on scope and cost review. The projects are on schedule, and the anticipated opening remains the fall of 2028.

Cabling for the elementary school safety and security package has been pulled in 14 of 26 schools, with South Elementary in progress. Schematic design was discussed and included an overview of the new secure vestibules that will be added to these campuses. The bids for these projects will be issued by the end of this year, with an anticipated completion of the fall of 2026.

The first package of middle school work at Goddard Junior High and the current Midland Freshman High School is in the schematic design phase. As previously communicated, these projects were chosen as the first middle school projects to take place as they have the same floor plan. Updates to these campuses include kitchen additions, secured vestibules and classroom additions.

The second middle school package is taking place at Alamo Junior High. Classroom additions and a new library were presented. The two-story classroom addition is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

The elementary school safety and security package, which consists of 26 elementary schools, was presented. These projects include security cameras, cabling, and updated/additional access controls. They are scheduled to be completed in March 2025.

Site improvements are also well underway at Midland Freshman High School. The tennis court slab has been poured, track curbs are complete, and the base material is in the final grading stages. This work is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

At its regular August meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the architecture and engineering firm for Package Eight, which includes four elementary schools - Bush, Scharbauer, DeZavala, and Santa Rita. These campuses were chosen based on the large amount of work needed at these campuses.

FINANCE

As presented to voters prior to the passage of the bond, the overall tax rate for the 2024-25 fiscal year has remained flat at $0.877. The recent defeasance that took place in August was also presented. The defeasance saved taxpayers over $35 million, and the district anticipates future defeasences to save even more.

      Interest Rate

• Planned Interest Rate: 5.25% - 5.50%
• Actual Interest Rate: 4.09%
• Estimated Savings: $310 Million

      Savings

• Total savings since 2012: $56,240,128
• Recent defeasance saved taxpayers $35,812,950
• Total savings to taxpayers from refinancing and defeasing existing debt since 2012 of $92,053,078
• Outstanding principal amount of $15,930,000 remaining, reduced from $125,056,986