The mother of three children attending Kilpatrick Elementary School has released an open letter about the upcoming bond election she sent to the Katy ISD Board of Trustees and Superintendent Alton Frailey.
In her letter, Darcy Kahrhoff implored trustees to reconsider their decision to put the $459.7 million bond issue on the November ballot, calling the amount “an incredibly large burden for the taxpayers.”
Kahrhoff also said she was “offended” by Frailey’s recent comments to the school district convocation. She said she had listened to the superintendent’s speech on the district website.
“As a citizen, taxpayer, community member, and parent of Katy ISD students, I feel very concerned about the amount of money our school board has approved for the proposed school bond. The $459.7 million school bond seems an incredibly large burden for the taxpayers of the community to shoulder considering the current unstable economic climate,” Kahrhoff said in the letter. “Our community is dependent on oil companies and their employees, and the current drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to remove some of this money from our area. To date, housing prices in our area have remained stable, but across the country housing prices continue to decline, and we have to consider the possibility that our housing market could suffer as well. If any or all of these things come to pass, the tax burden would increase exponentially for Katyites.”
Kahrhoff said she realizes new schools need to be built, citing the fact that her three children are at a campus with an entire grade housed in portable buildings. However, instead of the current bond proposal Kahrhoff suggested the board consider “splitting the bond into smaller pieces, having only some elementary schools and a junior high and immediate maintenance issues in the initial bond.”
“After those schools alleviate some of the stress that current elementary and junior highs have, and if community and economic conditions continue to improve, we can consider proposing the remainder of the bond that would include the high school and technology upgrades,” Kahrhoff said. “I feel this would be the more fiscally responsible course for the school district to take.”
In her letter, Kahrhoff also said she was “disturbed” by comments made by Frailey during a controversial speech at the district convocation last week. During his presentation, Frailey showed figures on how many Katy ISD employees lived within district boundaries, as well as how many of those employees were – and were not – registered to vote.
Kahrhoff also called Frailey’s remarks about passage of the bond issue possibly affecting teachers jobs “unethical.
“I was very disturbed to see our superintendent showing his employees how many of them were registered to vote, and how important it was for them to vote in district issues. He also implied that the proposed school bond’s passage would ensure that district employees would continue to be employed and receive annual salary increases, which is untrue and very unethical,” Kahrhoff wrote. “As a concerned citizen and parent who has questioned some of the ways in which our school board has spent taxpayer money, I am offended by Mr. Frailey’s insinuation that I am against the school district, don’t want the best for the students, don’t want teachers to be paid well, and that I am a village idiot spreading lies and rhetoric.”
In addition to asking board members to reconsider the bond vote, Kahrhoff also urged trustees to take part in the Katy Tea Party Patriots’ October informational meeting on the bond issue.
“I implore you to reconsider putting this proposed school bond on the November 2010 ballot. If you decide to ignore this request, then I would encourage the board members to attend the October public forum that the Katy Tea Party is hosting, so that you may answer questions regarding the school bond that community members might have,” she said. “Please be aware that the Katy community is paying attention, and is watching what the school board and the school administration decides.”
Kahrhoff’s entire, unedited letter appears below:
“An Open Letter to the Katy ISD School Board and Superintendent Alton Frailey:
“I am a mother of three children who attend Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary School here in the Katy ISD community, and my husband and I intend to continue to raise our family here. I have been raised in Texas Public Schools since I was in 5th grade, and graduated from a Texas state university. I love Katy, TX, and chose this community specifically for the excellent reputation of the schools.
“As a citizen, taxpayer, community member, and parent of Katy ISD students, I feel very concerned about the amount of money our school board has approved for the proposed school bond. The $459.7 million school bond seems an incredibly large burden for the taxpayers of the community to shoulder considering the current unstable economic climate. Our community is dependent on oil companies and their employees, and the current drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to remove some of this money from our area. To date, housing prices in our area have remained stable, but across the country housing prices continue to decline, and we have to consider the possibility that our housing market could suffer as well. If any or all of these things come to pass, the tax burden would increase exponentially for Katyites.
“I realize that new schools need to be built, as my three children are in a school with an entire grade being housed in portables. I also realize that Katy is a growing district, and that people are still moving in to our area. What I would propose is that we consider splitting the bond into smaller pieces, having only some elementary schools and a junior high and immediate maintenance issues in the initial bond. After those schools alleviate some of the stress that current elementary and junior highs have, and if community and economic conditions continue to improve, we can consider proposing the remainder of the bond that would include the high school and technology upgrades. I feel this would be the more fiscally responsible course for the school district to take.
“I recently viewed Mr. Frailey’s convocation speech to district employees through the Katy ISD website. I was very disturbed to see our Superintendent showing his employees how many of them were registered to vote, and how important it was for them to vote in district issues. He also implied that the proposed school bond’s passage would ensure that district employees would continue to be employed and receive annual salary increases, which is untrue and very unethical. As a concerned citizen and parent who has questioned some of the ways in which our school board has spent taxpayer money, I am offended by Mr. Frailey’s insinuation that I am against the school district, don’t want the best for the students, don’t want teacher’s to be paid well, and that I am a village idiot spreading lies and rhetoric.
“I implore you to reconsider putting this proposed school bond on the November 2010 ballot. If you decide to ignore this request, then I would encourage the board members to attend the October public forum that the Katy Tea Party is hosting, so that you may answer questions regarding the school bond that community members might have. Please be aware that the Katy community is paying attention, and is watching what the school board and the school administration decides.
“Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Darcy Kahrhoff”
Darcy presents a thoughtful alternative. The ripple effect of BP problems is beginning to cascade through West Houston and into Katy. The drilling stoppage has put a couple of my neighbors out of work, and jobs are moving across the globe as a result.
Taxes continue to climb at both the federal and state level, and our school tax burden will increase even without a bond. Add in a bond and it becomes even more.
The money is not the only issue at play here, so is public confidence or the lack of it in our elected officials who spend too little time on the job and let others run things for them with no accountability shown to the voters “back home.”
In the case of our school board, it is a thankless job and they serve without pay, so we should not complain too much as we certainly get what we pay for, which is nothing in both cases. If anyone on the board feels they do not have the time or willingness to serve, they should step down and allow others who are willing to step up and take control of an out of control administration sit at the table.
This bond request is a perfect example of “inaction in action” on the part of the Katy ISD school board. Why is it like pulling teeth to get serious information? Were there alternatives presented? How much of this needs to be done now? Who is watching the money and what qualifies that person(s) to do so. Someone should be out everyday checking on the costs of these projects as we are tired of paying $500 for a hammer and $3,000 for a toilet seat.
Why is the response of our BOT always the same, silence and an implied “trust me?” And we wonder why nothing changes. We need some fresh eyes and some out of the box thinking for a change. Darcy might have some of that to lend us, or know of others willing to help.
I heard Chris Crockett will attend the October bond event. If so, I believe we should thank her for her attendance. I had hoped we would have BOT members attend who had served during previous bond votes and had experience as to how these funds were expended, etc.
My expectations are minimal so maybe I won’t be too disappointed?
My understanding is that the press attention that the Tea Party received following the board meeting is the ONLY reason why Ms. Crockett agreed to attend. I believe she was shamed into attending. I’m also not sure if any of them have “officially” advised the Tea Party folks that they will be in attendance. I certainly hope that no one will be surprised if none of them show up at all!
Essentially what Ms. Kahrhoff has suggested is what the Watchdog$ began asking for in 2005; ITEMIZE THE BOND ON THE BALLOT!! I’m not talking about putting each line item on the ballot. Projects can be put into groups, but the bottom line is that those of us paying the freight should be allowed to decide what is needed and what is not needed. The problem with all these bonds is that there are numerous projects that are part of a district “wish” list. This handing out of blank checks to the district simply has to STOP!! Ms. Kahrhoff is correct, this bond initiative, if passed, will represent a huge debt burden on an already overtaxed populace. It will represent the largest single tax increase in district history. You see the spin will be that the effect will not be negligible because of the low interest rates we have right now. I don’t care what the spin is, the fact is it will add a huge amount to an already crushing bond debt total.
But what Ms. Kahroff forgot to mention is the fact that many of the bond projects have enormously inflated inflation rates figured into them. The district knows this but at the end of the day they will claim that they “saved” the taxpayers money on the project. Now you would think that those savings should be returned to the taxpayers but what happens is that those “savings” will then be used to purchase something on the district’s wish list, such as what we saw last year when all the high school practice fields were resurfaced. The money spent on that boondoggle was not mentioned in the 2006 bond initiative. I might also add that the Taylor HS parking garage was not mentioned in a prior initiative either.
This community needs to understand that giving government a blank check is not a good idea. Let’s tell the district in November that we want the bond process overhauled. Say “NO” in November to the KISD Tax Bond!!
Christopher E. Cottrell