Safer, better, more efficient; Lubbock ISD’s “Every Child, Every School” measure comes at a great time for the district
Good times. Unpredictably but often, the car I drove late in my college career would fail me (usually in some isolated, scary place and in extreme heat or cold) needing some kind various repair that ranged in cost from $ to $$$.
The car I drove in my late college years had reached a point of diminishing returns, and I can’t say it was altogether safe to be getting stranded in various places like I was a couple of times, before the days when I could afford a cell phone (heck, I’ll reveal my age and admit it was even before cell phones were common!)
Looking back, it would have made a lot more sense, from a safety and a bottom line standpoint, to make a $300 car payment on something more dependable and in better repair than what I now look back and figure was an average of around $400 in repairs monthly when two years’ worth of repairs varying in size are now taken into account.
I hope to never have to know as much about (or spend as much $ on) the engine of a Dodge Charger as I did back then.
So why didn’t I trade the old clunker for something more safe and dependable with car payments that would still be cheaper and more predictable than repair bills? Easy; I was in college and had only a part time job, no credit and was already in debt with college loans. The interest rates available to someone like me wouldn’t have been very low, and waiting to resolve this until better days just made more sense. However, waiting forever to resolve the situation wasn’t sustainable, and I knew it even then.
But, Lubbock ISD is in a much better position financially today than I was back then, and waiting doesn’t make any sense nor is it sustainable for a school district with needed maintenance, safety issues, significant capital improvements challenges at some schools and the very real need to remain competitive. This is especially true when you take into account LISD’s very little current debt compared with other districts and a Moody’s rating in the top 21 districts in Texas (resulting in one of the lowest interest rates available).
The very fact that the potential new $198 debt can be serviced without a tax increase points clearly to the time being right to address these needs and investments (LISD already has the lowest tax rate in Lubbock County among larger school districts). Following my own “character-building” experiences I cited above, it would be the equivalent of my having been in a situation where I could have kept my income level where it was from my part time job and taken on a car payment at a very low interest rate and scarcely felt the impact on my ability to meet my other expenses. That would have been a “no-brainer.” (Back then in my youth, I think we used to say, “Duh!”)
Honestly, if that had been my situation, would it still have made sense to continue to deal with maintenance challenges and costs? Clearly, no.
But dealing with maintenance and safety challenges isn’t all Lubbock ISD is looking to address; this investment will actually allow for operational cost savings of $2.5 million annually (this is a good business strategy); technology upgrades that will be smartly financed separately and for a shorter period than other capital investments; and, existing investments Lubbock ISD taxpayers have made until today will be protected by making other improvements that keep the district competitive. More information on these investments can be found at voteforlisd.com .
I only wish I’d had similar things going for me back when I learned I could push my car off the street all by myself. Yeah, Good Times.
