Posted: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:36 AM - 13,941 Readers

By: Steve Alberts

At Bee Cave Elementary students at are on a tight lunch schedule. Lunch starts at 10:45 a.m. The cafeteria is at capacity because more than 150 new students enrolled this year - a 22 percent increase compared to last year.

“It is packed in there,” said mother Kara King.
King has two boys who attend Bee Cave Elementary. Next year her daughter will start Kindergarten there. She says the school is bursting at the seams, which is why she is voting for the $158 million Lake Travis School District Bond.
 
“My taxes are going to go up, but it’s worth it,” she said. “We moved out to this district because we wanted them to have an exemplary education, and they can’t get that in an overcrowded class room.”
 
“The bond calls for building a new elementary school in West Cypress Hills, a new middle school on Highway 71 off Bee Cave Drive, and expanding Hudson Bend Middle School and Lake Travis High School which the district says are reaching capacity.
 
The average home in the Lake Travis School District is $380,613 before exemptions. If the bond passes, the average homeowner’s yearly property tax increase by $262.60.
 
Mike Meyer is one of 27 members of the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee. He says the new schools and other improvements are needed.
 
“I think timing is critical,” he said. “We can't afford the time to wait.”
 
Lake Travis parents Hans Dersch and Jeff Decoux disagree. They don't believe the time is right for a tax increase.
 
“People are hurting; people are feeling unstable and unsettled, and to ask for a big tax hike is pushing it a little bit,” said Dersch.
 
“This bond has a tremendous amount of waste and doesn't go to solve the problems we’re facing right now,” added Decoux.
 
In the end, voters will decide at the ballot box. Early voting lasts until Friday, Nov. 4. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

*  Story Contributed by: Steve Alberts