In a state known to shell out a lot of money for school sports, voters in two different North Texas school districts said 'No' to bonds dealing with athletic facilities.
Voters rejected Proposition C in Prosper ISD which would have cost $102,425,000 to renovate athletic facilities and included a $94 million football stadium. It would have been a second stadium.
"So when they [parents] see millions of dollars going to sports facilities or to things that are kind of less of a priority than academics, you're seeing parents vote and say, 'We're just not going to say, 'yes' to that. We don't need that stuff as much as we need to focus on educating students," said Brendan Steinhauser a political consulting strategist.
He said he's noticed a shift in parents as well over the last several years given the pandemic and the amount of learning loss.
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“I think you know, parents more than ever are concerned about what is being taught in the schools. They're concerned about the massive learning loss that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic and the school shutdowns," said Steinhauser. "You know, they're looking at their pocketbook right now and they're making sure that every dollar that is spent for school buildings or for facilities or for administration or technology is actually being spent on educating students."
He said he hears from parents that sports facilities are nice enough for their kids to play and only maybe a decade old.
"But the idea that we have to, you know, either knock that down and build up something new or we have to replace the AstroTurf on the field yet again, or get a huge Jumbotron. You know, a lot of these parents are just kind of like, 'Enough is enough.' We have facilities for sports, you know, that are good enough for our kids to be able to participate in team sports or individual sports and learn all the great lessons that you do from sports," said Steinhauser.
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Prosper ISD, which is known to be one of the fastest growing districts, did get the approval from voters for $2 billion worth of bonds to build new schools, facilities and buses, and improve technology. They also approved $125 million for a new performing arts center.
In Lewisville ISD, four bond proposals D- G, which had to do with athletic facilities across the district, also failed. Voters, however, did approve more than a billion for school facility upgrades, technology, security, school buses, and a Voter Approval Tax-Rate Ratification Election of more than $37 million.
To see more election results, click here.
