BISD bond fails

Just under 1,700 of Bandera County’s 15,632 registered voters turned out to vote on Bandera ISD’s proposed school bond, the majority of which voted against it.

According to results from the Bandera County Elections Department, 966 voted against the bond and 707 were for. In a letter posted to the district’s Facebook, BISD Superintendent Gary Bitzkie expressed gratitude for the “overwhelming” support from the community even though the bond did not pass.

“We recognize that the decision to support a bond is not an easy one, and we are humbled by the level of participation and engagement from our community members,” Bitzkie wrote. “As we move forward, we will continue to work hard to identify other ways to provide critical funding to improve our district’s facilities and support our students’ academic success.”

Early voting accounted for a majority of the ballots, with 1,212 votes cast before Election Day on May 6.

Nine of those early votes were absentee, six for and three against.

For in-person early voting, 565 were for the bond, 638 against.

The bond was the sole item on the ballot, though bond proposals were present throughout Texas school districts.

Bandera was one of the few who failed to pass, though bonds that passed in other Texas districts this year failed in previous elections.