The ambition and the aging exist in uneasy tandem across Dallas ISD—133,000 students scattered among campuses averaging more than four decades old, nearly 10,000 of them still filing into portable classrooms each morning. The district’s answer is a $6.2 billion bond package, the largest ever put forward by a Texas school district, now headed to the May 2 ballot after trustees approved it unanimously in February. The proposal, developed over the past year with the help of the Citizens Bond Steering Committee across more than 65 meetings, would build 26 replacement campuses, eliminate every portable districtwide, and modernize safety, technology, and athletic facilities across the system.
The sticker price, broken into four propositions, carries what officials frame as a curious ask: a 1-penny increase in the property tax rate. Even with the penny, Dallas ISD would still have the lowest total tax rate of the ten largest school districts in the area. This translates to roughly $2.79 per month for the average homeowner, or $33.48 annually. Seniors with homestead exemptions, however, would see no increase.
“All students deserve safe and updated learning environments where they can imagine the brightest of futures for themselves regardless of their ZIP code,” said Dallas ISD special education teacher Mia Witt.
School board President Joe Carreon and former Mayor Mike Rawlings have both pushed for passage. Rawlings, specifically, is praising the district’s trajectory from its B rating to more than 70% of campuses earning A or B grades. “This world is moving fast in technology, in capital, in how things are done,” Rawlings said at a March 12 news conference, urging voters to sustain the momentum.
Voter registration closes April 2. Early voting begins April 20. More at www.bond.dallasisd.org/bond2026.