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Guess what the new study says?

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Leander ISD got its new growth projections last week and guess what? We are growing really fast and if it keeps up we are going to be the biggest school district in Central Texas. LISD is projected to have 58,618 students by 2017, about a 30,000 student gain over the next decade; Austin ISD has 82,074. Austin is growing but LISD is growing faster.

Our suburban neighborhoods are prime breeding grounds for elementary-age students. Demographers predict LISD will catch Austin in student population by 2027.

LISD boasts better graduation rates, better college entrance exam scores, less crime and far superior athletic programs than AISD. All these are the things parents look for when deciding where to live.

The $559 million dollar bond package voters will be asked to vote for is huge. It is $40 million more than the 2004 AISD bond package. Voters approved that package with a 70 percent voter approval. Will LISD get that type of approval? It is unlikely because too many people cannot understand why Leander needs a bigger bond package than Austin.

LISD is about 20 square miles larger than AISD. When AISD passed its 2004 bond package, 20,000 students were housed in portable buildings. If the upcoming bond package fails, LISD could easily have 20,000 children in portables in short order.

It costs the same amount to educate a child no matter what type of facilities we have; the difference will be the quality of education the child will receive and what type of financing problems LISD would face over the next 10 years.

Last week a letter to the editor criticized LISD for not planning and it is true the district in the past has been reluctant to ask voters to approve bond packages over $300 million. This time the district is asking for enough money to plan a little further out, including buying land for high school No. 7. This is planning - voting “no” just means LISD will, for the first time in more than 20 years, have to make decisions to put out fires that are already burning rather than preventing the problems from breaking out, like 20,000 students housed in portables.

There is only one way to stop the growth in LISD - provide a bad education to our children. Every “no” vote is a vote to stop growth!  

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