Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

It’s been 65 years since Breckenridge has had a new public school built and 20 years since the last major renovation to a school. But, the Breckenridge Independent School District officials are hoping to change that and have proposed a $39 million bond to fund the construction of a new elementary school.

Such a bond requires the approval of the residents in the school district, so the current election includes an item on the ballot regarding the bond. Early voting is going on now, and election day will be Tuesday, Nov. 4. See details about voting locations and times in the Election section below.

The Basics

BISD is proposing to build a new school for all Breckenridge students in grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school will replace both East Elementary and South Elementary.

“Vote Yes!” signs are posted in many yards around Breckenridge. According to the signs, they are paid for by “Buckaroo Bond 2025: Kelsey Cornwall, treasurer.” (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

In order to pay for the new school, the school district will sell bonds to investors. Then, the district will have to pay back the funds with interest, similar to a home mortgage or car loan.

In addition to spending the $39 million that will be raised through the sale of bonds, the school district also has committed to contributing an additional $5,573,332 in district funds to ensure that there is enough money to build a quality school.

Earlier this year, BISD formed a facility planning committee made up of about 20 members including parents and non-parents, young adults and senior citizens, as well as teachers, business owners and community leaders. According to the BISD bond website, the committee met multiple times over a four-month  time period and studied the district’s financial data, conducted a district-wide facilities assessment, evaluated projected costs of potential projects and toured existing facilities to assess current conditions firsthand.

On Aug. 11, the committee presented two options to the BISD Board of Trustees for their consideration – a $35 million option, which included building a new school for first through fifth grades, maintaining East Elementary for pre-k and kindergarten, and renovating several other school district facilities; and the $39 million option that the school board chose, approving an order calling for a bond election based on that option.

Several members of the facility planning committee spoke at the Aug. 11 school board meeting as part of the presentation.

This “Vote No” mailer was sent to local residents last week. Although the mailer has Jay Marcom’s name and address on it, there is no information specifying who paid for the mailers. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“This Planning Committee, which was made up of a wide variety of community members, has taken many months and many hours to discuss and discuss some more all of our options,” said Cassie Wimberley, a committee member and assistant principal at East Elementary. “We have thought about each and every aspect of our decisions. We all love this place, and we want to instill the pride of being a Buckaroo into the kids that are our future. We want to be able to give them a place to be proud of, a place that they say, ‘Yes, I am from Breckenridge.’”

Kelsey Cornwall, a member of the committee and a parent to kids at Breckenridge Junior High, South Elementary and East Elementary, explained that the committee didn’t start out with a plan to build a new school.

“As we started, we started kind of down a path, but as you know, discussion changes…,” Cornwall said. “We went through project rankings and project discussions, more project discussions, more rankings, and finally nailed it down to two options.”

Following the school board’s approval of an order to seek a bond to build a new school, a Political Action Committee (PAC) was formed to advocate for the bond and the new school.

The Location and Design

The current plan is that the new school will be located on the property where South Elementary is now but further to the southwest, directly west the track. Although the location could change if a problem with the proposed location is identified, BISD officials say that they are planning on the school being built there if the bond passes.

Cornwall, who is also the founder and treasurer of the Buckaroo Bond Political Action Committee, said the planning committee researched various locations for the new school and determined that the South Elementary property is the best place. Cornwall said that the committee also investigated some of the concerns local residents have about the property, such as a reported gas odor in the area, the presence of a pump jack on the property, etc., and that she, as a parent, doesn’t have a problem with the location.

“Yes, there are some concerns about the … gas wells that are on it, but there are gas wells on every property in Breckenridge, so it would be hard to find one that (doesn’t have one),” she said “They’ve tested the gas emissions and they’ve passed the tests.

“I don’t have a problem with that location,” Cornwall said.

The facility planning committee looked at several sites for a new school, but there were problems with each location, such as being not centrally located, inadequate space for parking and pickups/drop-offs, etc.

Although there is a very basic map that shows where the school could be located, there isn’t a design for the proposed school at this time.

“It has not been designed yet … because the engineering … that would entail, would entail spending taxpayer dollars for a project that hasn’t been approved yet,” Cornwall explained. “So they have not done that part. They don’t want to spend the money to do that work and then (the bond) not get approved.”

She said she’s excited to see the design that the architects come up with, if the bond passes. “They do this for a living, and they know what current school designs look like,” Cornwall said. “They know what types of features go in current school systems, and they’ll be able to show us the neat and effective safety features that are in schools today.”

Why Breckenridge Needs a New School?

There are basic and obvious reasons that Breckenridge needs a new school, such as the age and condition of the current schools, lack of enough space at the current schools, inadequate technological capabilities, etc. But, there are also other reasons, such as community development, attracting more teachers, retaining graduates in the community and more.

Inadequate current schools

Based on the tours of the schools, along with personal experiences of parents, students and staff, the committee learned of some of the problems with the current schools:

• Poor circulation in schools that were not built with air conditioning
• Inadequate electricity/electrical outlets for modern life
• Construction materials (cinder blocks) that make it difficult to update and adapt the schools to modern necessities
• Difficulty upgrading security systems and transportation procedures
• Lack of consistency with wifi/internet access
• All of the problems associated with needing to use portable buildings for some classrooms
• Bathrooms and cafeterias that need updating

Community Development

In addition to providing the students and staff with an updated facility, the new school will also benefit the community overall, Cornwall said.

“When you have good schools, it’s a source of community pride,” she said, adding that better schools attract more teachers, who often bring their families to the community.

Additionally, good schools are something that businesses look for when they are thinking of relocating to a new community.

Finance/Taxes

One of the most widespread complaints is the increase in taxes for some local residents. Cornwall said that although the bond will have to be paid off with interest and that tax dollars will be used to make the payments, the situation isn’t as simple as it seems and not everyone will have to pay more taxes.

Because of state laws, many residents in the school district will not be required to pay any property taxes to BISD and some others will not pay any more than they do now, even if the tax rate goes up.

She explained that whether someone pays for the school bond depends on their home value and exemptions. If the related statewide proposition passes in November, the homestead exemption for school taxes would increase from $100,000 to $140,000, meaning many Breckenridge homeowners with properties at or below that value would not pay school taxes for the bond, and seniors would have an even larger $200,000 exemption with their taxes already frozen at age 65. Additionally, the value of new wind and solar projects coming online will be added to the school district’s total property value, and those projects will also share in paying the tax burden.

According to the information on the BISD bond webpage, homeowners with an appraised home value of $100,000 would have a $140,000 homestead exemption, resulting in a taxable value of $0. For the average residence in Breckenridge ISD, appraised at $145,518, the $140,000 exemption leaves a taxable value of $5,518, which translates to a monthly impact of $1.67 and an annual impact of $20.09. A homeowner with a $200,000 home would have a $60,000 taxable value after the exemption, resulting in a monthly tax of $18.20 and an annual tax of $218.44. For a $300,000 home, the taxable value of $160,000 would lead to a monthly tax impact of $48.54 and an annual impact of $582.50. A home appraised at $400,000 would have a taxable value of $260,000, resulting in a monthly impact of $78.88 and an annual impact of $946.56.

For more detailed information about how the bond might affect you, visit the BISD Bond webpage and click on the “Finance Facts” tab.

Opposition

Although a few people have voiced some concerns about the location of the planned school, the destruction of the BISD tennis courts, problems with past BISD projects, and the increased taxes, Cornwall said the facilities planning committee investigated many issues and is confident that, in the long run, the bond and subsequent new school will be good for the community.

“I hear a lot of good things. I hear a lot of people say, ‘It’s time; we need this,’” she said.”The opposition that I’ve heard is generally related to the payment of the taxes, given that, you know, that who will be paying the taxes is a somewhat small sect of the population. They certainly have a right to their opinion. We believe that the payment will be worth it.”

Election

The bond issue is included on the regular ballot for the Nov. 4 election. The only other items on the ballot are the 17 state propositions. Click here to see a sample ballot.

In addition to Election Day, Early Voting is ongoing through Friday, Oct. 31, according to the Stephens County Elections office webpage.

Specifically, the hours of Early Voting are:

• Oct. 27-29 (Monday through Wednesday) (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
• Oct. 30-31 (Thursday and Friday)  (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

Early Voting will take place at the Stephens County Courthouse, 200 W. Walker St.

On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the following precinct locations:

Precinct 1: Clear Fork Bank-Tower Room (formerly known as First National Bank), 101 E. Walker St.

Precinct 2: Presbyterian Church-Fellowship Hall, 1601 W. Elliott St.

Precinct 3: Stephens County Annex Building, 222 N. Baylor Ave.

Precinct 4: BISD Support Center-Bus Barn, 907 U.S. Highway 183 North

Precinct 5: Clear Fork Bank-Tower Room (formerly known as First National Bank), 101 E. Walker St.

For more information on which precinct you vote in, look on your voter registration card, call the Stephens County Elections Office or visit the Texas Secretary of State’s Vote Texas website.

After having worked on the project since May, Cornwall said she is hopeful that the community will go to the polls and vote. “I am hopeful. I’m hopeful,” she said. “It really does depend on whether everybody gets out to vote.”

A look at the past as we plan for the future

BISD Director of Libraries Abby Moore researched the history of the schools in Breckenridge and has posted her findings on a Substack page. Click here to read about Breckenridge’s schools.

Moore starts with the earliest Breckenridge schools and then takes a deep dive into the history of the hotly contested 1958 bond elections – yes, there were two.  The first one failed, but after a structural engineer declared the South Elementary building, which had been built in 1923, unsafe, a second proposed bond passed in November of that year, just a few weeks before the Buckaroo football team won the state championship.

Others were against the bonds, mostly due to increased taxes, with some alleging a lack of truthful information from the school district.

And, at least one community member changed his mind from one election to the next, writing, in part, in a letter to the editor, “… I believe the wiser course is to cease further opposition and to unite for better schools for our town and country.”

In a 1958 newspaper article, according to Moore’s  research, community leader Arthur Miller said, “For the development of Breckenridge it is a necessity that we have some new school buildings, not only for the development and education of our youth, but in order to compete with our neighboring towns.”

In letter to the editor that same year, a local resident wrote, “I do not see how we can take pride in either (our town and school system) very much longer without new and modern school buildings. Our present buildings are a disgrace, and our children deserve better… We stand on our feet and scream ‘Fight ’em Bucks’ and let our school buildings fall down around our ears! Let’s also have buildings of which we can be just as proud as we are of the Buckaroos.” Moore explains that the writer was referring to the Buckaroo football team, which went on to win the state championship title just days after the letter was printed.

Likewise, at the Aug. 11, 2025, school board meeting, Carl Everett, a member of the facility planning committee, confirmed his support for the bond and the new school. He explained that at the beginning of the process he had been against it, favoring renovating existing schools instead.

“… when I first started on this, I thought that renovation was the route to go, and it is not the route to go,” Everett said. “We need help, and when you spend a bunch of money reclaiming an old building, you’re just throwing money away that you could be putting in a new building.”

Based on the presentation at the school board  meeting and the research Moore did, it seems it’s not only the buildings that haven’t changed since then, but some of the sentiments, as well.

Cutline, top photo: Kelsey Cornwall, a member of the BISD facility planning committee, spoke to the school board at the Aug. 11 meeting. Also speaking to the board were committee members Cassie Wimberley, left, and Carl Everett, to the right of Cornwall. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)