A decade ago, it took courage for a Mississippi public school district to ask local voters for more money. Very few of them did.
Maybe they didn’t need to. When the state began the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in the late 1990s, it came through with extra money for schools, and much of it went to building improvements and similar projects.
School district leaders still are reluctant to ask residents to borrow money for big-ticket projects and repay it through higher property taxes. But a few of them have taken the risk in recent years, and in a time when tax increases remain unpopular, it’s a surprise that voters have approved all but two of the proposals.
These include this spring’s vote by North Pike residents to raise property taxes by 27 percent to borrow $11 million for significant upgrades at all three of its campuses.
The Hinds County School District, which does not include the Jackson and Clinton areas, is the latest to ask residents for help. They will vote Tuesday on whether to let the district borrow $60 million.
The money apparently would replace a 2003 bond issue that is about to expire, so the district says property taxes would not go up. Of course, to look at it differently, taxes would decrease once the 2003 borrowing is paid off.
If approved, the district would build new classrooms, gyms and performing arts centers. The loan also would pay for a computer for each of the district’s 6,000 students.
Like most school bond issues, the main factor in the result is turnout. The fewer people that show up to vote, the more likely the district can get 60 percent of them to support the plan — a level required for such proposals.
The second factor is whether the public believes that the school district is doing a good job. If it does, then chances of voter approval rise.
In recent years, the Republican-led Legislature has been determined to cut state spending. This naturally implies less money for every agency, including public schools, and that’s what has happened. The surprise is that school districts that have asked residents for more money in recent years have been so successful.
