After voters rejected a roughly $31 million bond proposition for Arlington ISD athletic facilities, the proposal may pop back up on ballots in November.
District officials say that without the funds for the projects, some AISD athletic facilities could be deemed unsafe or even be unusable in the future.
On July 30, trustees are expected to discuss whether to table the projects, put them back on the ballot or pay for certain projects with interest earnings from previous bond issues.
Some of the projects address immediate needs, such as replacing turf at each of the Multi-Purpose Activity Centers, Chief Operations Officer Michael Hill said.
“Everybody knows where we are right now (financially), but we really have to look at what’s best for our kids’ safety and how we can continue to try to provide kids that opportunity to use the facility for what it was built for,” Hill said.
The athletic facility proposals made up one of three Arlington ISD propositions on the ballot. The other two totaled roughly $469 million and will fund improvements at schools, technology upgrades and new buses.
Proposition C failed by 830 votes, with a total of 23,402 ballots cast — the closest margin of the three bond proposals.
The rejected projects still are needed, district officials said.
They initially presented four options to the board:
Send the proposal back to voters in November unchanged from the May ballot..
Keep the original proposal but add other athletic-related projects and send it to voters in November.
Place the projects on hold.
Pay for the projects using interest earned from the 2019 bond funds that were not being used.
During the June meeting, Superintendent Matt Smith said the turf replacement had become a talking point used against the proposition during the May election, with some voters seeing it as a luxury that couldn’t be afforded.
“Being honest, I think that was a little bit of a detriment, because Proposition C actually impacted far more students than maybe was initially perceived by the community,” Smith said.
Arlington ISD voters joined a trend of those across the state in rejecting athletics propositions over the past few years, Trustee Justin Chapa said. The Arlington City Council’s extension of the Dallas Cowboys’ lease at AT&T Stadium and plan to reimburse the Cowboys for $273 million in upgrades may have concerned voters as the AISD bond election was ramping up, he added.
“I had several people come to me and say, ‘I can’t support any more taxes for stadiums,’” Chapa said in June. “But I think the perception is that, when focusing on their ballot, X number of dollars for athletics facilities, they think it means stadiums, and that is not what we’re doing.”
Chief Financial Officer Norberto Rivas said he does not expect a tax rate increase if a November bond proposal is approved by voters.
Turf at the six Multi-Purpose Activity Centers and other fields across the district is a dire need, Hill said. In May, the district hired a third-party service to conduct a GMAX test on the centers’ turf that examines how well the surface responds to use.
The nearly 10-year-old fields are nearing a point where they would not be safe for use, Hill said.
“If we fail those GMAX tests, then we can’t use them,” Hill said.
The likelihood of passing an athletics bond has also changed since Arlington ISD’s 2019 bond election, when voters approved a $966 million proposal. Projects included rebuilding four schools, building Joey Rodriguez Junior High and athletic and fine arts renovations.
In April 2019, the Legislature passed a law requiring school districts to separate bond projects, such as athletic facility upgrades, into different propositions.
The law has affected athletics bond propositions in Tarrant County and the state.
In 2021, Fort Worth ISD brought a four-part, $1.5 billion bond package to voters. Voters rejected three propositions focused on athletic facilities and fine arts center upgrades that totaled roughly $279 million.
In 2024, Mansfield ISD voters rejected two propositions on fine arts and athletics improvements.
Trustee David Wilbanks said he understands Arlington ISD needs athletic facility upgrades, but convincing voters could be difficult.
“I’m looking at a very contentious Senate race, a governor’s race in November, and it’s really hard to pass a bond with that kind of noise going on, especially if it’s just an athletics bond, which we know is a tougher hill to climb,” Wilbanks said.
As for possibly absorbing the cost into the district’s budget, Arlington ISD has accrued roughly $45 million in interest from banked 2019 bond funds, said Kelly Horn, assistant superintendent of facility services.
Chapa and Wilbanks both signaled support for using the interest to complete some of the most important athletic projects.
“I think there are certain items in there that I would be comfortable using interest earnings off the 2019 bond funds to spend to address,” Chapa said.
However, Trustee Brooklyn Richardson raised concern about the message that action could send to voters.
“My question would be to my colleagues: If the voters didn’t choose to pass this, and then we say, ‘This is how we want to spend our money,’ what does that say to our voters?” Richardson said. “Does that say we know better what to do with this interest fund and this is what we should be doing?”
Hill said the district appreciates the investment the community put into athletics in 2019 and 2014, but that additional funds are needed to ensure those prior investments weren’t made in vain.
“This is just the opportunity, or another opportunity, for some identified needs to keep that investment fresh, so that we can continue to provide the students experiences that we’ve become accustomed to,” Hill said.
Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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