Lessons From the Round Rock ISD Bond Election Defeat

Should the city of Georgetown and the Georgetown ISD learn a lesson from the defeat of Round Rock ISD school bond elections this past weekend?

Here is an analysis of the Round Rock ISD bond election defeat by KEYE TV.

The opposition managed to brand the bonds as waste. Zimmerman says, “I think people are upset with the wastefulness and the extravagance and they don’t agree with the strategic vision of subsidizing Round Rock city development.”

And at the top of their waste list was Prop 3 which included a new district swimming facility. Zimmerman says, “Swimming pools don’t educate kids. Then when the truth came out the pool was part of Round Rock’s city economic development and part of their strategic vision for growing the city of Round Rock, we said why are school taxpayers subsidizing Round Rock city growth?”

Tucked away in Georgetown's FY 2017 Mid Year Budget Amendment is the following: $40,000 for the study of aquatics in partnership with Georgetown ISD with the cost split 50/50. 

If the city and the school district want to jointly fund an aquatics center, they better be upfront with the taxpayers of the city and the school district!