4 school bonds on area ballots

East Texans on May 10 will decide the outcomes of four area bond elections that propose to build seven new schools and renovate other facilities at a total cost of $225.2 million.

Heres a look at the area bonds:

White Oak ISD

White Oak ISD is asking voters to approve a $25.2 million bond that would pay to build a new high school and field house.

The election is proposing to build a single-structure high school with one secured public entrance. The building would feature a three-story academic wing with modern science labs; a city/school library with public access after school hours; a fine arts area for music, arts and drama; and a 1,200-seat gymnasium, with its floor below ground level and an entrance on the north end of the T-shaped high school. The plan keeps the gym built in 1990 intact. The original high school was built in the 1970s.

A 10,900-square-foot field house, envisioned just west of the football stadium, accounts for $2.2 million of the proposal.

If approved, the districts debt service portion of the tax rate would increase from 7 cents to about 42 cents per $100 valuation. That total would be added to the districts maintenance and operation rate of $1.17 per $100 valuation for a total tax rate of about $1.59 per $100 valuation.

At that rate, a homeowner of a property valued at $100,000 would pay $1,590 in property taxes to the district annually with no exemptions about $28.33 more per month from the payments that would be due on the same property if the bond fails.

The last district bond election was in 1999.

Gladewater ISD

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4 school bonds on area ballots