If OKed, HISD bond would be carried out over years

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- It's your voice, your vote and this election your school and your wallet, too. Houston schools are asking for nearly $2 billion to build dozens of new schools. But a vote in November doesn't mean a new school soon.

In 2007 HISD, voters approved an $805 million bond. Since then, the district built 24 new schools.

The first opened in 2009. A dozen new schools opened in 2011 and the last one won't be complete according to the district until 2014.

The point is this takes a long time.

It opened last year, but Wednesday was dedication day at the brand new Roosevelt Elementary School. Built from the ground up to replace an old school, the new Roosevelt is full of new classrooms, added space and technology upgrades.

"My favorite part is the smart boards," fifth grade student Christian Acosta said.

"And you have them in all the classrooms now?" we asked him.

"Every classroom," he said.

"Did you have that before?"

"Now, we had to write on dry-erase boards."

Roosevelt is one of nearly two dozen brand new schools HISD built with the money voters approved in 2007.

"This is the greatest new school ever," Acosta said.

Who could say it better than Acosta? This school was worth waiting for. For HISD, it was a promise made years ago and a promise kept today.

But to some parents it's just taken too long. The vote was back in 2007 and just dedicated Wednesday.

"They just started here at Worthing," HISD parent Sandra Joseph Taylor said.

Taylor is a Worthing High School parent. She wonders why expansion plans approved as part of that 2007 bond are just getting underway now.

"This is part of the plan," HISD Spokesman Jason Spencer said.

HISD said it would take this long and says the new bond could take even longer -- until 2020.

"We need to roll this out over time, in the fastest manner possible because these are schools that have significant, immediate needs," Spencer said.

It would be too much money to borrow at once, too many plans to create at once, too much construction to manage all at the same time, so don't think a November vote brings new schools right away.

While it frustrates some parents, the district says it just has to stretch it out.

"I can't tell them how quickly to spend it, but we would like to know what they are doing, when is it our timing, why are we last on the list?" Taylor said.

HISD is looking to rebuild or renovate 38 schools if the new bond passes. No ground will be broken until 2014, at the earliest and the district says it does not have a specific schedule nor an order of which school goes first or last.

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Man allegedly claimed cup would blow up METRO light rail train

Alan Tadeo Baker, 45, is charged with terroristic threat.

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Officials have charged a man with making a terroristic threat after he allegedly called in a bomb threat to Houston's light rail line.

On August 27, a METRO Transit Authority customer service operator received a phone call during which the caller said he had left a cup on the light rail vehicle that might explode, blowing up the train. According to court documents, METRO police found that the call came from a phone number belonging to Alan Tadeo Baker.

Surveillance video also reportedly showed a man who matched Baker's description board the train, place his cup in a seat and then exit again, leaving the cup behind. Officials say the surveillance video also showed the man attempting to get back on the train, but the doors had closed and the train was pulling away from the station.

Police say further investigation matched up Baker's use of his Q-card, video and audio surveillance and the recorded threatening phone call.

Baker, 45, is charged with terroristic threat, a felony charge. Bond has not been set in the case.

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HISD bond would rebuild schools

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- HISD is unveiling plans that would change the look of high school for almost every Houston student. And if approved, it will change residents' bottom line for decades to come.

The plan calls for $1.9 billion, and no matter what you spend that kind of money on, it is a lot of cash. The school board is proposing spending that money to renovate dozens of schools. It's mostly targeting high schools, with $1.3 billion of the money spent to rebuilt 14 high schools.

If voters agree to increase their own taxes for decades to come, a number of high schools will soon be history. Lee, Yates, Sharpstown, the High School for Performing and Visual Arts and four others are all set to be torn down and rebuilt. It's part of a nearly $2 billion bond program Houston home and business owners will soon be asked to pay for.

HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier said, "This is a good investment. This is good for Houston. When you start replacing this number of high schools, it can change an entire city."

HISD says its aging buildings are too old for school. A consultant hired by the board says Houston high schools are eight years older than the national average, and the rest of the schools are right at it.

Susan Zoeller with Parsons Engineering said, "You have aging buildings. 1925 I think is the oldest one? Tthings have changed since 1925."

At the same time, the consultant admits this is a huge proposal -- maybe a little too big.

"Few school districts in the country would take this on," Zoeller said.

"I'm pretty concerned by the size of this," said former tax assessor collector Paul Bettencourt. "I question in an economy that's soft, even certainly nationally, why we're going for such a huge amount of money all at one time."

Already there is some opposition, not necessarily to the need, but for the size of the program. The $1.9 billion is twice what the district asked for just five years ago. For an average $200,000 home in HISD, that's $91 in extra school taxes every year for decades.

"If you have a brand new school, the value of your home goes up," Dr. Grier said.

Your choice -- $100 for 30 years for a new school in your neighborhood. Voters will likely be asked in November. A poll commissioned by an outside group for the school district said about 48 percent of Houstonians already support it.

View a map of the school campuses HISD proposes to have completely rebuilt, partially replaced, renovated, converted and expanded.

The proposal calls for $1.67 billion to be spent on improvements at 42 schools. According to HISD, this would cover: (Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more In Focus »

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How much renovating the Astrodome would cost you

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A decision on whether to leave the Astrodome standing could come down to how much Harris County residents are willing to pay.

Earlier this week, we showed you some of the ambitious renovation proposals to repurpose the Astrodome. Now we're learning that the price of preserving the Houston landmark may be more than taxpayers are willing to pay.

The plans are either to tear the Dome down or turn it around. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to remake the Dome into a multi-purpose facility and build a new Reliant Arena.

The county can't afford to do it alone, so taxpayers will likely decide if they want to up their own tax bill every year for 30 years.

"This is where I grew up, in the Astrodome," said Jeff Rosenberg with Tri-Star Productions.

Rosenberg is a pretty serious sports fan. Before he became a collectibles dealer in Houston, he attended hundreds of Astros games as a fan in the Astrodome. He'll never part with his '86 Mike Scott jersey.

"There is not an amount of money I would sell this jersey for," Rosenberg.

While his memories might be priceless, saving the Astrodome isn't. It was built in the 1960's for $31.5 million, and back then, taxpayers almost said no to that price.

"These buildings aren't going to magically reverse the pattern of deterioration," said Willie Lotson with the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.

Taxpayers are once again being asked to pay for the Astrodome -- $600 million to build a new arena and remake the dome into a multi-purpose conference facility.

The fight's not likely to be any easier this time.

"I think it's going to be very tough," Lotson said.

The numbers are still preliminary, but to raise enough for the $600 million renovation, the county would have to raise the tax rate on every home in Harris County by 1.2 cents. On a $100,000 home, that's about a dollar a month, every month, for the next 30 years.

"That's not all that big of deal," said Dene Hofheinz Anton.

Anton is Roy Hofheinz's daughter. He built the dome, and when we found her in Nashville today, she told us she wants it saved.

"A dollar? A dollar to save the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' and make it into something that's very exciting for all families?" she said.

But once voters see the bill, the question will likely be how much is a memory worth?

"Unfortunately, the reality is, you know, we just have to say goodbye. It's our beloved dome, but we say goodbye," said Rosenberg.

Either way, we apparently can't wait.

"The sooner that some action is taken to reverse the trend that we're in right now, the better we're going to be in the long haul," Lotson said.

Harris County commissioners will decide next month about whether to put this to a public vote.

Here's an interesting statistic to think about: when the first dome vote was taken in 1961, there were a little more than a million people in Harris County. Today there's nearly four times that many. That's a lot of people without a lot of dome memories who would also get this tax bill.

Join the conversation and vote in our poll above.

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