WO-S Bond Election Tuesday/Results Here Tonight!!/Turf or No Turf

[td]

I can't say that I agree with everything that's been done in the last several years but I can say that we are in a much better financial position than we were before he got here. In alot of ways he has put us on the right path. That being said, it makes me wonder how much more it will cost us to bus the kids to and from school when we move to MLK. Gas is $3 a gallon. It seems like for what we paid for the land we could have torn down one of the existing schools and rebuilt in a closer location to where the majority of kids live. We vote them in all we can do is hope they are getting all of the information needed to make good decisions. It would really helpl if we didn't have to send our Robin Hood money off. I think that's about 8 million a year.

[td]

i voted yes to both props 1 and 2.  and would vote yes again if given the opportunity to do so.  i hope there is turf in the football stadium in the near future.   

$5 a win will get us a little closer.

[Guest Wos Grad 2000]

The sad thing is if this is true, the first thing to be cut out of this bond will be anything involving athletics.  There is a very very Sneaky bunch of characters that are pretending to be administrators at WOS.  One thing that has been successful through the years has been the athletics.  I understand that athletics is not the reason kids go to school, but that is the main reason that alot of these kids stay in school and get better educations.  That is why I have no problem voting for the turf.  As many scholarships that have been recieved through football, or overall athletics at WOS is amazing.  A reward of such to me would not be to outrageous.  It is just hard for me to believe that mlc can get support for an amazing new weightroom and scoreboard, vidor can get support for an unbelievable new gym and fieldhouse, bc can get support for a very nice gym, and orangefield can get support for a very nice gym.  On the other hand we have ex-players, I mean a kicker(go stangs), that says he wouldn't even support the bettering of our facilities.  That is ashame!!  Sure the stangs will continue to win on grass, but that is not the point.  The point is that this was actually a chance to give our kids something nice, as a reward for years of EXCELLENCE, and we can't even get the support of some our old players(I mean a kicker).  What is even more amazing is that all those idiots that sit up in the stands and rip on our coaches and claim that they are screwing our kids, they are so lazy they wont even get off of the sofa or the street corner and vote.  Maybe they are saving there energy for there friday night drunken tantrums.  All in all I find it apauling that every other school in our can find a way to help there athletic facilities, but the people of orange really just don't care.  Thank you to the people that actually did vote yes on both bonds.

Your right! The kids deserve it. A birdie once told me it's going to happen!

[tam2121]

The sad thing is if this is true, the first thing to be cut out of this bond will be anything involving athletics.  There is a very very Sneaky bunch of characters that are pretending to be administrators at WOS.  One thing that has been successful through the years has been the athletics.  I understand that athletics is not the reason kids go to school, but that is the main reason that alot of these kids stay in school and get better educations.  That is why I have no problem voting for the turf.  As many scholarships that have been recieved through football, or overall athletics at WOS is amazing.  A reward of such to me would not be to outrageous.  It is just hard for me to believe that mlc can get support for an amazing new weightroom and scoreboard, vidor can get support for an unbelievable new gym and fieldhouse, bc can get support for a very nice gym, and orangefield can get support for a very nice gym.  On the other hand we have ex-players, I mean a kicker(go stangs), that says he wouldn't even support the bettering of our facilities.  That is ashame!!  Sure the stangs will continue to win on grass, but that is not the point.  The point is that this was actually a chance to give our kids something nice, as a reward for years of EXCELLENCE, and we can't even get the support of some our old players(I mean a kicker).  What is even more amazing is that all those idiots that sit up in the stands and rip on our coaches and claim that they are screwing our kids, they are so lazy they wont even get off of the sofa or the street corner and vote.  Maybe they are saving there energy for there friday night drunken tantrums.  All in all I find it apauling that every other school in our can find a way to help there athletic facilities, but the people of orange really just don't care.  Thank you to the people that actually did vote yes on both bonds.

I agree with you totally. I will go further than that and I know most won't like me saying it, but I don't care...the truth is the truth. Wo-s has become too black, they don't feel black people deserve nice things. If half of these same people who voted no to this had a vote for the same thing to place at Lcm, then they would gladly vote yes...and that's the truth. They get a new scoreboard donated by people in Orange and haven't won anything on the football field, but the Wo-s players can't get anything???? this is totally pathetic.

[tam2121]

I can't say that I agree with everything that's been done in the last several years but I can say that we are in a much better financial position than we were before he got here. In alot of ways he has put us on the right path. That being said, it makes me wonder how much more it will cost us to bus the kids to and from school when we move to MLK. Gas is $3 a gallon. It seems like for what we paid for the land we could have torn down one of the existing schools and rebuilt in a closer location to where the majority of kids live. We vote them in all we can do is hope they are getting all of the information needed to make good decisions. It would really helpl if we didn't have to send our Robin Hood money off. I think that's about 8 million a year.

Wasn't the schools that received our Robin Hood money suppose to return this money? I thought that a judge ruled that this was unconstitutional and we were suppose to get money back.

[mustang mom]

Tam2121, I agree. If it was another school in this area, people would vote it in in a heartbeat. That jumbotron was purchased by donations from businesses that many of us support, yet they wouldn't want their names on our field. I just don't understand it. So many kids have been saved from dropping out, etc from our athletic program. I know that I've helped two graduate that wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Mustang athletics and coaches who cared. Hopefully we will find a way to give them back what they deserve.

[adminbaberuth]

I see it as voter apathy. Look at the number of voters from all the elections last night. I bet only 5% of the registered voters took upon themselves to get to the polls with over 750 million dollars on the table.

You need something on the ballot to really get the people out. In WOS elections, to guarantee a win on the turf you needed a Prop 3, something like this:

Prop 3

To allow WOCISD middle school to pass out birth control pills to their students without parent approval?

For

Against

or

Prop 3

To set age 65 as retirement date for Athlete Director of WOCISD

For

Against

That's a trick of the trade in politics, it works when you want something to pass.   

       

[Heb]

The reason the turf was separated from the rest of the items is because when the bond was first proposed, people complained more about the turf than any other item.  I personally believe the proposition 1 barely passed in part because of all the other athletic improvements. 

Tam2121, our racial composition certainly played at least a partial role.  I'm not sure how many black people voted, but traditionally, black voter turnout is disproportionately low compared to white voter turnout.  I would bet many of the voters were older whites who no longer have kids in the school district, so the motivation to pay extra taxes was not the same as if they had kids who would attend the new or renovated schools.  There has been an effort to get the plants to help us with the turf.  The same plants to which we have and are currently giving a significant tax break, and they refused to fund it.  If those plant managers have kids in school, I doubt they are attending WOCCISD. 

The money we lost due to "Robin Hood," it's gone and is never coming back.  As for the current funding of education in the state of Texas, it's a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss.  We are still getting robbed.

I'm just thankful proposition 1 passed.  Our program will continue to be great, regardless of the surface of the Dan R. Hooks Stadium.

[claytong]

since everybody is voting against then why dont we just win state and get turf free

[AggiesAreWe]

since everybody is voting against then why dont we just win state and get turf free

Wow, that's a new one. Since when do you get free turf for winning state?

[stangchain]

Instead of the rings and medals this year, it's TURF!!!    LOL....

We might win a sponsor!!!

[Guest Chaingang Defense]

Tam2121, I agree. If it was another school in this area, people would vote it in in a heartbeat. That jumbotron was purchased by donations from businesses that many of us support, yet they wouldn't want their names on our field. I just don't understand it. So many kids have been saved from dropping out, etc from our athletic program. I know that I've helped two graduate that wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Mustang athletics and coaches who cared. Hopefully we will find a way to give them back what they deserve.

Your correct! We know exactly what you mean. we're hoping someone from the past will step up and get it for us. Remember 1986-87, he played here.

[stangchain]

He wouldn't help with the sign, which wasn't even 1/3 of the cost of turf, so I'm pretty sure he can't swing turf.

[KFDM COOP]

How come he wouldn't?

[stangchain]

Well, he originally said he would, then nobody seemed to be able to get in touch with him after that.  He never called back.  I don't know if he felt that everybody just wanted a piece of him or money or what, but it would be nice to give back.  You see athletes do it all the time other places.  I dunno.....

No hard feelings, though.  It's just not for him, I guess.

[tam2121]

The reason the turf was separated from the rest of the items is because when the bond was first proposed, people complained more about the turf than any other item.  I personally believe the proposition 1 barely passed in part because of all the other athletic improvements. 

Tam2121, our racial composition certainly played at least a partial role.  I'm not sure how many black people voted, but traditionally, black voter turnout is disproportionately low compared to white voter turnout.  I would bet many of the voters were older whites who no longer have kids in the school district, so the motivation to pay extra taxes was not the same as if they had kids who would attend the new or renovated schools.  There has been an effort to get the plants to help us with the turf.  The same plants to which we have and are currently giving a significant tax break, and they refused to fund it.  If those plant managers have kids in school, I doubt they are attending WOCCISD. 

The money we lost due to "Robin Hood," it's gone and is never coming back.  As for the current funding of education in the state of Texas, it's a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss.  We are still getting robbed.

I'm just thankful proposition 1 passed.  Our program will continue to be great, regardless of the surface of the Dan R. Hooks Stadium.

I agree with everything your saying especially about black people not going out and voting like they should. It would take me a whole other thread to address that issue because that's ridiculous as well.

[tam2121]

Your correct! We know exactly what you mean. we're hoping someone from the past will step up and get it for us. Remember 1986-87, he played here.

Again ridiculous. You are who you are because of what these coaches and this school have done for you, but you can't give back?  >

[claytong]

I've just heard from people around that if you win state then the state will pay for your school to have turf.

Please notify me if I am wrong though. Not sure if this is completely true. That is one reason why I brought this up.

[stangchain]

Someone is truly pulling your leg.  The state cannot afford to pay 900,000 per winner.  Besides, what if a school wins that already has turf?  What are they playing for.....

So not true.

[td]

I agree with you totally. I will go further than that and I know most won't like me saying it, but I don't care...the truth is the truth. Wo-s has become too black, they don't feel black people deserve nice things. If half of these same people who voted no to this had a vote for the same thing to place at Lcm, then they would gladly vote yes...and that's the truth. They get a new scoreboard donated by people in Orange and haven't won anything on the football field, but the Wo-s players can't get anything???? this is totally pathetic.

I disagree with that completely. If that were the case then why wouldn't those people just move to LCM? We are more black than white. Which means if your post were true then the black people should have gotten out and voted in Prop.2. To me this is not a racial issue at all.

[hb]

I believe there are some misconceptions about the bond issue that need to be clarified before they turn into those elusive "known facts".

"officials will try to sneak in the turf" - not going to happen. The voters spoke very clearly that they did not want taxpayer dollars used for artificial surface on the football field. If individuals or business want to donate money for that project that would certainly be considered, but it is not going to be done with taxpayer money.

"The Super. was on KOGT this morning already saying it wasn't enough money to do what he wanted to do and they were going to be short on completing some of the items on the list" - I did not hear that broadcast so I can't speak specifically to that, but I can assure you that somewhere along the line there was a failure to communicate. So in an effort to remedy that failure, here are the facts of the situation.

The board consulted with architects and engineers to make the best estimate we could of the construction cost on these projects, we included what we believe is a sufficient cushion for unexpected costs and we do believe firmly that there will be plenty of money available to complete all the projects listed under proposition 1.

When considering what items to put on the ballot, we discussed all the items publicly and we got a lot of feedback from the public about how they felt about these issues. It was decided to put the turf on a separate proposition because it was obvious from that feedback that there was a good chance the turf issue could cause the entire package to fail. From the results of the election it looks like that was exactly the case.

In fact, leaving the improvements to the football stadium and baseball and softball facilities on proposition 1 also lessened it's chance of passing. I'm sure anyone who reads this list is aware that there are a number of people who are going to vote against anything that includes money for athletics. In spite of it making it more difficult to pass the bonds, we decided to leave the athletic improvements on proposition 1 because we do understand just how important they are. Fortunately there were enough well informed and far sighted individuals in the community that the main bond proposition did pass, and now we will move as quickly as possible to get all of these projects completed.

The board did indeed prioritize the projects, and in the event of unexpected circumstances some projects will be completed before others. 'IF" we should run short of money the ones on the bottom of the list may not get done. Note that I said "unexpected" circumstances. We do believe we have planned for enough money to complete all projects, but it would do no one any good for us to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that unexpected things never occur. That list of priorities was clearly spelled out in the documentation that was distributed to parents and voters in the district.

For those that aren't aware, here is the list in order of priority.

1. New elementary school

2. Improvements to the Middle School campus

3. Improvements to the High School campus

4. Provide an auditorium for our band, choir and drama students

5. Improvements to the High School Football stadium

6. Improvements to the Softball facilities

7  Improvements to the Baseball facilities

I would like to thank those individuals who did take the time to go vote.

Harry Barclay

WOCCISD Board President

[Guest Chaingang Defense]

Mr. Barclay i understand your post but there has to be a way to get the Field Turf, these kids deserve it. I know a few people that are trying to get a hold of Kevin Smith and maybe he can do it.

[td]

""The Super. was on KOGT this morning already saying it wasn't enough money to do what he wanted to do and they were going to be short on completing some of the items on the list" - I did not hear that broadcast so I can't speak specifically to that, but I can assure you that somewhere along the line there was a failure to communicate. So in an effort to remedy that failure, here are the facts of the situation.

Harry Barclay

WOCCISD Board President

[77]

I agree with you totally. I will go further than that and I know most won't like me saying it, but I don't care...the truth is the truth. Wo-s has become too black, they don't feel black people deserve nice things. If half of these same people who voted no to this had a vote for the same thing to place at Lcm, then they would gladly vote yes...and that's the truth. They get a new scoreboard donated by people in Orange and haven't won anything on the football field, but the Wo-s players can't get anything???? this is totally pathetic.

I cant understand why LCM or any other school should be brought up in this post. The only people that could vote on this issue are from WOS,  maybe the powers that be should have pushed this harder to the public but to make posts  like this are just ridiculous.imo

[Guest Chaingang Defense]

77, you are right but the point is those same people would have voted it in for guys in a flash.