Anderson PTSAAnderson High School, Austin Texas

To find a complete list of polling locations, visit voteyesforAustinschools.org and click on Where do I vote?

Did you see KVUE’s spot on the bond package, and particularly Anderson High School, on Monday?  Senior Sara Beth Purdy was interviewed and did a great job of explaining why Anderson needs additional classrooms.  It was Sara Beth’s first election to vote in and she was happy to vote YES, YES, YES on all three propositions, knowing that the improvements made under this bond package will benefit her younger brother and students to follow her.

Once again, these are the items that are in the bond package that will positively impact our vertical team schools. 

In Proposition 1, Anderson will receive four new science laboratory classrooms with an elevator.  All of our vertical team schools, including Anderson, Murchison, Doss, Hill, Davis, and Summitt, will receive upgrades in technology hardware and systems such as wireless connections, mobile carts, a gradebook and student info programs, among other items to enhance instruction and management.  

In Proposition 2, Doss will have electric drinking fountains replaced to meet ADA code, have locking systems installed on doors to classroom pods, and have its condenser and multizone air-handling unit in the 300 wing replaced.  Davis is having its moveable partition between the cafeteria and gym replaced.  Hill and Murchison would receive new dishwashers.  Summitt will have heat pump units replaced at the cafeteria, gym, and kitchen.  Anderson will receive four additional tennis courts to bring the school up to district-wide standards and have selected air handling units replaced.  Also in this Proposition, the Anderson vertical team schools would receive capacitor banks, a new requirement by Austin Energy that would improve and balance power demand and prevent the district from facing $2 million in additional charges.  Low-emission diesel and two plug-in hybrid school buses, which would be purchased with Prop 2 funds, might also benefit our students, if they are put into service on our routes.

In Proposition 3, Anderson would receive twelve additional classrooms and have its overcrowded and unsafe fine arts wing renovated.  All students from the Anderson vertical team could also benefit from a district-wide performing arts center (PAC).

From the Austin American Statesman:

Pass bonds to ease crowding and boost science, technology

By The Editorial Board | Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 05:19 PM

With 2,000 new students enrolling every year, it’s no wonder that the Austin school district has crowding problems. That alone has pushed the district to build 16 new schools in the past 10 years - and it’s time to build a few more.

Austin’s enrollment growth comes at a time when the state has raised the bar in science and when public schools are facing more stringent state and federal health and safety standards. Moreover, Austin schools are being held back by outdated technology and infrastructure. It’s time to upgrade.

That is why we’re urging voters to pass all three propositions in the $343 million bond package on the ballot May 10. Early voting began Monday and continues this week.

Today, we examine Proposition 1, the largest of the three bond propositions on the ballot at $187.8 million. It is a no-frills package that would make room for the district’s ballooning enrollment, refresh technology and upgrade science labs. We recommend that voters pass Proposition 1 and here’s why:

For some time, Linder Elementary School in South Central Austin has been bursting at the seams. It was built for 600 students, but 931 children are enrolled there this year. About $24 million of the bond package would go toward building a new 24-classroom school to house a pre-kindergarten and early childhood center at Linder. Too many students start behind in Austin, and this would help change that and ease crowding.

Another $27.6 million would be dedicated to a future elementary school, including buying land. And Langford Elementary in Southeast Austin, which has as many portable classrooms outside of its building as permanent ones inside, would be expanded. Hart and Barrington Elementary schools also would get new classrooms to ease crowding.

Another costly item - adding and expanding science labs -amounts to an unfunded mandate by the state. Increased state graduation standards require students to take four years of science, and those courses mostly are accompanied by labs. That additional lab space must be created, and it will cost about $36.3 million to do that.

The most expensive item is replacing 36,000 outmoded classroom computers. The district has found a smarter way to do that by using mobile computer labs that can be rolled from one classroom to the next instead of supplying each student with a laptop or stationary computer.

The $69.8 million technology upgrade also will include something parents and teachers want and need - a new online grade book system that allows teachers to post daily grades and attendance in real time . Parents will be able to check those postings from home or work.

That would give parents and teachers a much-needed tool to track their students’ progress and attendance before students flunk courses or rack up numerous absences. Parents have long complained that by the time they know that their children are failing or chronically skipping school, it’s too late to improve within a grading period.

We are recommending that voters pass Proposition 1, which would add about $9 a year per $100,000 assessed valuation to a property owner’s tax bill. We realize that this is not the ideal time to pass a bond package because of a slowdown in the economy. But if we don’t supply students and teachers the tools they need to succeed, it will cost taxpayers more later to deal with adults who aren’t equipped for college or work.