COLLEGE STATION, Texas — On Nov. 7, College Station voters took to the polls to vote on several propositions listed on the ballot for this election cycle.
In the end, propositions A and B were approved, which focused on security and technology improvements for College Station ISD’s campuses. Propositions C and D, on the other hand, were rejected, which would have provided a total of over $51 million for improvements for the district's athletic programs.
“Props C and D, we got close. We're already seven and a half percent so you know we have a lot of support for that. We just ended up a little short, but you know that was our stadium renovations at both high schools,” CSISD Superintendent, Tim Harkrider, said.
However, CSISD athletic director Kevin Starnes believed that voters weren’t able to see the urgent need for upgrades.
“If you haven't been in into our facilities physically, then you may not know what our needs are. So, you know, we had our crosstown rivalry football game just a couple of weeks ago, we sold out and it was standing room only,” Starnes explained.
As the city of College Station keeps growing, CSISD is trying to keep up with all areas of their high schools, and Starnes hoped that the athletics propositions would help the district get ahead of the curve before overhauls and refreshes become a primary topic of discussion.
“We're increasing the capacity of our high schools with Prop A going to 2,700 students. Those programs will also increase in numbers, so I think that the updates to the stadium and the field house at A&M Consol would keep up with that,” Starnes noted.
The superintendent wants to assure residents that they will still advocate for these props in the future.
“I think we go back now and figure out and talk to our community on C and D," reflected Harkrider. "What bothered them about it, you know, why maybe that support wasn't there, as we game plan for the future, because those needs have not gone away, and how we target support, maybe we can come to common ground.”
Despite the disappointing news for the athletics department and those looking to provide more to the CSISD students and athletes, there's still positive things to take away so that next time, the upgrades brought to the ballots can be approved by voters.
“You know, I think we're a little disappointed that those didn't pass but we had almost 5,000 people vote in favor of them," noted Starnes. "And so, we know that there's support, we just need a little bit more to get over that hump.”
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