Battles are brewing across Dallas over the $1.6 billion in school repair bond money voters approved in November.
One example is 50-year-old Edna Rowe Elementary School in the Buckner Terrace neighborhood of East Dallas.
Younger couples with small children have been moving into the established neighborhood near Interstate 30 and Jim Miller Road, according to homeowners association co-chairman Daniel Wood. To keep them there, Wood said Rowe Elementary needs big improvements.
"It's old. They haven't maintained it. It's falling apart. Even though academically they've performed very well at the school, we can't get the young couples in the door to stay in the neighborhood," Wood said.
Korey Mack, chairman of the Buckner Terrace homeowners association, works for Uplift Education Charter Schools. He said his young children will likely attend a new Uplift campus planned nearby instead of Rowe Elementary.
"Folks in the community have tried to reach out to the district to see if we can make it more esthetically pleasing," said Mack. "We feel like it would really be a feature that our neighborhood deserves."
Rowe Elementary is slated to receive $11,492,000 as one of 30 schools in the first round of bond money spending. Wood said the Dallas Independent School District currently plans to spend that money on a 12-classroom addition to Rowe Elementary. It would replace a 20-room modular building constructed many years ago, but Wood said it would overlook problems with the main building on the campus. Wood said the addition is too small and the entire school should be replaced or completely renovated.
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"There's just not enough money to go around. I realize that. But when we do have the money we should be spending it wisely. And absolutely it's the key to the future," Wood said.
Parent Daniel Olivas said he has seen building problems at the neighborhood school while attending community meetings there. But his 4-year-old son will still begin Pre-K at Rowe this year after the family recently moved to Buckner Terrace.
"I'm more for supporting the public school because I'm a product of the public school," Olivas said. "The school is within walking distance so I was like, why not support the public school, even though my wife is a little bit reluctant to do so."
However, Olivas said he strongly supports improvement at the school.
"I want to see the neighborhood improve, get better," Olivas said.
Dallas ISD Spokesman Andre Riley said officials are still refining plans for all 30 campuses in the first round of spending and nothing is final yet.
"We look forward to bringing a proposal to the community that will be in the best interest of kids," Riley said.
