Polimom voted early yesterday, and although I wrote that there are no “yes” votes these days, I actually cast two. One of those will hopefully send someone to Washington D.C. (for another post…), but the other was as local as it gets: the Katy ISD school bond.
This local bond was the one issue on my ballot that I am absolutely positive will directly impact my life, because out here in Katy, everything centers up on the schools.
When a similar bond went in front of voters in May, I didn’t register my opinion; the end of the school year is complete chaos, and the entire issue was background noise to more pressing issues. Most of the parents I’ve since talked with were like me — too busy to focus — but when the bond was defeated, we all noticed, and we’ve been talking about it ever since.
We’ve talked about it in natatoriums and on soccer fields; in the grocery stores and on front porches. We’ve bemoaned the astounding taxes we pay while worrying about growth in the area, and the vast majority of people I talked to agreed on one thing: Katy’s schools are the cornerstone of this community. Unless we want to set up a slow decline, or divide the community along geographic and economic lines, they must be supported.
Polimom’s as concerned as everyone else with the unbelievable growth; the landscape changes daily as the horizon disappears. I resent the congestion, and the fact that it takes me 20 minutes to drive what used to take 10… but the school district isn’t building the subdivisions. They’re responding to them.
Polimom wishes (oh so very much) that my school taxes were lower. I’m always appalled when I see the numbers… but the reason they’re so high is primarily because we don’t have a massive business or industry base to off-set the individual tax burden… and folks, this bond won’t change that.
If people are concerned about how fast the area is growing, shutting off money to the district will certainly have an impact; nothing will slow us down faster than a declining school system.
However, that will also slow down our children, and we can’t allow that. AC’s future is inextricable from her education — just like every other child’s. Furthermore, I have no desire to see my property values deteriorate in lock-step with the schools.
And so Polimom did indeed cast an emphatic “Yes” vote yesterday. I voted to protect the investment I’ve made in my home, my community, and most of all, my child’s future.
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Related prior post here: Katy, taxes, and the bond “thing”