Financial and enrollment uncertainties have led Midway ISD board of trustees to call for a scaled-down bond election for November that focuses on upgrading existing facilities for $83.5 million.
That’s less than half the amount that a board-appointed bond committee recommended.
But trustees hope to follow up with another bond election next year that could address growth needs by expanding elementary schools and replacing Speegleville Elementary, which by itself could cost more than $90 million.
The bond election set for Nov. 4 would earmark $75.7 million to address capital improvements and deferred maintenance needs districtwide, plus $6.5 million for classroom devices and $1.4 million for LED lighting, security and technology.
“We’re here because we have facilities that have aged and to some part we’re here because our district has grown,” Trustee Pam Watts said during a special meeting Monday. She said the lack of state funding over the years has strained Midway’s finances.
“We’re here having to deal with things that we would not have to deal with if we had been judiciously and fairly funded the way we should have been for the last decade,” she said.
Midway officials project that tax base growth will allow it to pass the bond election without raising the property tax rate.
The board last week adopted a property tax rate of $0.9369 per $100 property valuation. Midway officials noted that the rate has fallen by 38 cents since 2018, partly due to state school funding decisions.
The most recent Midway bond election in 2019 raised $148 million to build Park Hill Elementary School. Grade levels and attendance zones were reconfigured, resulting in a new elementary school and a second middle school.
But aging school facilities remained an issue after those facilities were completed.
Midway ISD trustees appointed a 47-member committee of community members to study the district’s needs.
In June, the committee recommended a $175.3 million bond package that included expanding elementary schools to address projected growth and building a new Speegleville Elementary.
Trustees debated several options for Speegleville Elementary, which Midway officials said was built in 1954 and is the smallest school in the district. Options included closing the school altogether or replacing it in a different location.
Midway board members expressed caution about the scale of original bond proposal, citing recent funding struggles.
In the short term, a major concern for the board of trustees is the budget deficit of $3.5 million in the maintenance and operations budget.
“If we continue operating at a deficit, Midway is not going to be Midway,” Trustee Jonathan Green said, adding that he worries about effects on Midway’s programs if the budget is cut.
Midway officials said state legislation has put pressure on schools to hire more police officers and increase salaries for educators and staff, while the state has barely raised its “basic allotment” for maintenance and operation over the past six years.
This year’s property tax base for Midway has dropped by 4.7%, after more than 10 years of annual growth, and the decline has been in the residential sector, according to information from Midway ISD.
However, Midway officials say that loss should be offset by more state aid on the maintenance and operations side.
Board members have also noted the district’s enrollment appears to have been flat for the last couple of years, which affects the amount of per-student funding the district gets from the state. Midway ISD staff this week said enrollment was at 8,662.
“I don’t want to go ask voters to pass a bond to build a new elementary school when our enrollment figures don’t support that,” said Pete Rusek, Midway ISD board of trustees president, during Monday’s special meeting.
Midway ISD Superintendent Chris Allen said the scaled-back bond would address deferred maintenance and save money in the long run.
“It would allow us to not only fix many of the things that are already end of life and broken, but actually project those needs out about three years so that we can make sure our facilities are running clean, cool air, that the lighting is sufficient for the young people to have great learning environments, that we have reliable buses that can run the roads and keep kids safe when they’re traveling around,” Allen said.
Worn-out plumbing, aging climate control systems and roofing needs are some of the many necessary upkeep the district plans to address with the bond.
Ahead of the first week of school, Midway ISD staff worked on fixing a leak at River Valley Middle School. Crews replaced air conditioning units at a cost of $40,000.
“Some of our units are so old that they don’t even sell the refrigerant that you have to use in those units anymore to keep them running cool,” Allen said.
Two years ago, Midway ISD could not open one of its campuses on the first day of school due to plumbing issues, Allen said. No running water means kids can not wash their hands or flush toilets.
Trustee Rick Tullis said he believes enrollment and tax revenue growth will return. The district has seen more development and big companies moving inside the district, including the Electrolit sports drink factory and the billion-dollar Graphic Packaging International paper recycling mill, set to open by year’s end.
“All the ingredients are still in place that once interest rates come down, there’s going to be continued economic growth in this part of town. It’s going to bring more jobs,” Tullis said in an interview.
Clarification, Aug. 20, 2025, 10:51 a.m. Central: This story has been updated to clarify the scope of the 2019 bond work. One new elementary school was built, while a former intermediate school was converted to an elementary school. In addition, the story has been revised to clarify that this year's loss in tax base is not a prime cause of a $3.5 million deficit.
