AISD Bond - 2017

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Why not go find the numbers yourself, since your claims are also based on the same data (that neither of you have posted nor provided links to).

First one: Dallas ISD

2017-2018 Athletics budget: $8,816,660
2017-2018 Total budget: $1,419,184,253
.62%
https://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX...4_17_FINAL.pdf

Austin ISD

2017-2018 Athletics budget: $4,037,680
2017-2018 Total budget: $1,300,445,162
.31%
https://www.austinisd.org/sites/defa...D_Official.pdf

I have found total budgets for Houston ISD and Katy ISD, but I haven't located their Athletics expenditures yet.

[wwmiv]

San Antonio ISD:

https://www.saisd.net/admin/finance/...206-19-17.xlsx

(FYI: this link is a forced download .xls spreadsheet)

It doesn't have a specific category for Athletics, but I'm going to assume that athletics is some portion of the "co-curricular/extracurricular activities" line-item.

That would put the maximum athletics expenditures at $11,095,884 out of $594,638,217, a 1.87% share. The reality is probably that only a portion of that line-item is athletics related. Even if half that amount is athletics, that would still be .93% (still much higher than Austin's ISD).

[lzppjb]

Not a budget, but this is the breakdown of the proposed AISD bond. .57% for Athletics.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

San Antonio ISD:

https://www.saisd.net/admin/finance/...206-19-17.xlsx

(FYI: this link is a forced download .xls spreadsheet)

It doesn't have a specific category for Athletics, but I'm going to assume that athletics is some portion of the "co-curricular/extracurricular activities" line-item.

That would put the maximum athletics expenditures at $11,095,884 out of $594,638,217, a 1.87% share. The reality is probably that only a portion of that line-item is athletics related. Even if half that amount is athletics, that would still be .93% (still much higher than Austin's ISD).

That's exactly what I'm finding. Houston, Katy, Fort Worth...they all lump Athletics in with extracurricular activities (which also includes Fine Arts).

[lzppjb]

I was going off the eyeball test. I follow HS sports pretty closely. I help run a forum for 6A Texas Football. I have an idea what districts pay their coaches, what districts have amazing facilities, etc. Austin lags behind badly.

[eskimo33]

You are right I should have cited my sources, they all came from this years AISD budget. I will go back to my original posts and do so.
https://www.austinisd.org/budget

[eskimo33]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

That's exactly what I'm finding. Houston, Katy, Fort Worth...they all lump Athletics in with extracurricular activities (which also includes Fine Arts).

My numbers for athletics came from page 413 of the FY 17 AISD budget, as did the rest of the stats I quoted (minus the national report card, as it came from both the AISD budget and the national report card). The AISD has athletics broken out as its own line item.
https://www.austinisd.org/budget

[eskimo33]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

This is not true. Please provide proof.

AISD coaches are some of the lowest paid. The stadiums are barely kept up. There is very little spent on athletics by AISD. To say we spend more of our budget than the DFW metro? Where sports are king? Houston and Katy, too? I don't see it. I don't know where you got your numbers. I'd like to see them.

austinisd.org/budget
FY 17 budget page 413 for athletics and page 43 for teacher salaries

[wwmiv]

Okay, but where are you getting the numbers for your comparison claims that Austin spends more than peer cities on athletics?

[lzppjb]

Those numbers are 2014-2015, but that's ok for this exercise.

According to that chart, only Manor and Del Valle spent less percentage-wise than Austin on Athletics. That doesn't account for Del Valle just completing a major overhaul of their stadium with a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility.

If we're going to compare with other large districts, then off the top of my head those would be:

Dallas ISD
Houston ISD
Northside ISD (San Antonio)
Northeast ISD (San Antonio)
San Antonio ISD
Fort Worth ISD
El Paso ISD
Katy ISD
Cy-Fair ISD
Fort Bend ISD

[lzppjb]

I'd have to do more research, which I'm not really willing to do, but 2014-2015 could include some costs that aren't normal.

In 2015, that flood ruined House Park's field and it had to be replaced with emergency funds before the 2015 season started. I don't know what budget that is captured on.

[eskimo33]

Izppjb, I was not meaning to start an in depth conversation about the budget but merely answering the question asked.
Having said that, I am glad that we had the discussion because it made me do research which helped further my understanding of the bond. No one will ever agree on everything, but a healthy discussion based on hard facts is always good.

[Flatiron]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Kids play sports. It will not and should not stop. With that being said, do you think they should be placed in small locker rooms where staph infections are likely? Bowie has outdated locker rooms. The football team has 2 or 3 guys sharing a locker. Just a couple years ago, a staph infection spread through the team in the middle of the season. And that's at one of the newer high schools in the district! Only Akins is newer.

Athletic fields get worn out. They have to be replaced. If not, kids get injured. Have you ever run on a turf field with the seams all jacked up? ACL tears waiting to happen. You'd rather that happen?

BTW, AISD does concentrate on teaching. The latest tests show that the district is not only above average in results in Texas, but in the nation. And that's with a majority of the students being economically disadvantaged, or English is their second language.

AISD is not the district spending $70 million on a football stadium, like in Katy. AISD spends so little on athletics compared to a lot of districts, especially those surrounding us.

In this bond, they actually decreased a lot of athletic spending that was originally wanted so they could appease voters like you. House Park is in disrepair, but instead of spending $10 million on it, which covers all projects needed, they cut it down to like $2 million and put the rest on the back burner.

Theres more to education than athletics. Stop being a bully.

[austin242]

Bowie does not need a Parking Garage. It is a waste of Money. People Need to ride the Damn BUSSES already provided. All the students are so privileged already they can drive to school when they could just ride the bus like at most other schools. Bowie is the most spoiled school in the whole city. That is $50,000,000 wasted. For that price, they could get their own personal light rail system from circle c to the school, with one stop at Escarpment, La Crosse, and the other at Bowie. I will be Voting it down just for that alone. I went to Bowie from 2012-2013. Locker Rooms are fine at bowie. We shared lockers. People didn't clean their stuff (which is why they get staph) Locker Rooms were of sufficient size. The football team is just too big. Only 9th graders shared lockers. The theater needs to be renovated. It's way too small.

I would rather just see a New High School Built somewhere in South Austin. Then Both Akins and Bowie would no longer have the problems of Over Crowding. Bowie wouldn't have to spend money on a new marching field across the street. Akins wouldn't have to add a new wing every few years because they had 50 classrooms in portables. Bowie wouldn't have parking problems (which it shouldn't have in the first place). Someone said that they appropriate bond money very poorly. That is clearly the case. As a former student of A.I.S.D I believe they need to sort out their priorities.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Flatiron

Theres more to education than athletics. Stop being a bully.

You confuse me. How am I being a bully? Where did I say there was not more to education than athletics? All I'm doing is responding to eskimo's comment that they shouldn't spend so much on athletics. I'm pointing out that AISD doesn't, in fact, spend that much on athletics in the grand scheme of things. And yes, I'm passionate about it. I'm not trying to be a bully. I'm asking for facts to back up the statement.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by austin242

Bowie does not need a Parking Garage. It is a waste of Money. People Need to ride the Damn BUSSES already provided. All the students are so privileged already they can drive to school when they could just ride the bus like at most other schools. Bowie is the most spoiled school in the whole city. That is $50,000,000 wasted. For that price, they could get their own personal light rail system from circle c to the school, with one stop at Escarpment, La Crosse, and the other at Bowie. I will be Voting it down just for that alone. I went to Bowie from 2012-2013. Locker Rooms are fine at bowie. We shared lockers. People didn't clean their stuff (which is why they get staph) Locker Rooms were of sufficient size. The football team is just too big. Only 9th graders shared lockers. The theater needs to be renovated. It's way too small.

I would rather just see a New High School Built somewhere in South Austin. Then Both Akins and Bowie would no longer have the problems of Over Crowding. Bowie wouldn't have to spend money on a new marching field across the street. Akins wouldn't have to add a new wing every few years because they had 50 classrooms in portables. Bowie wouldn't have parking problems (which it shouldn't have in the first place). Someone said that they appropriate bond money very poorly. That is clearly the case. As a former student of A.I.S.D I believe they need to sort out their priorities.

I agree that the parking garage is a weird piece to this.

I don't agree that expanding Fine Arts and the Athletics wing is a waste. But we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[eskimo33]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

You confuse me. How am I being a bully? Where did I say there was not more to education than athletics? All I'm doing is responding to eskimo's comment that they shouldn't spend so much on athletics. I'm pointing out that AISD doesn't, in fact, spend that much on athletics in the grand scheme of things. And yes, I'm passionate about it. I'm not trying to be a bully. I'm asking for facts to back up the statement.

Your passion did come across as somewhat aggressive, but I find that education in general and sports specifically tend to arouse a lot of passion out of people (so no worries).
To beat the proverbial dead horse here; I am not sure that one can truly say that ASID does not spend "that much on athletics" when the teaching staff is some of the lowest paid in the area and they spend more on athletics than pier cities. I know it is 2015 data, but that is the data AISD itself has chosen to use and publish for the point of comparison.
Either way, I am not sure that Izppjb or myself are going to change our minds on this, and in my opinion that is okay.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by eskimo33

and they spend more on athletics than pier cities. I know it is 2015 data, but that is the data AISD itself has chosen to use and publish for the point of comparison.

Again, where is the data for this claim?

You keep repeating it, and failing to deliver.

https://www.austinisd.org/sites/defa...D_Official.pdf

page 407 ("the data AISD itself has chosen to publish") shows it spending _less_ than other local districts, not more (though those aren't true peers).

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Again, where is the data for this claim?

You keep repeating it, and failing to deliver.

https://www.austinisd.org/sites/defa...D_Official.pdf

page 407 ("the data AISD itself has chosen to publish") shows it spending _less_ than other local districts, not more (though those aren't true peers).

Less in percentage, more in absolute spending. I think that's the confusion causing factor.

[eskimo33]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Again, where is the data for this claim?

You keep repeating it, and failing to deliver.

https://www.austinisd.org/sites/defa...D_Official.pdf

page 407 ("the data AISD itself has chosen to publish") shows it spending _less_ than other local districts, not more (though those aren't true peers).

Novavek, I misquoted the page number, the page should be 413 not 407. Student Group 91 - Athletics and Related Activity, at the bottom of the page shows what I am referring to. Once again apologies about the page numbers.