Sara Sands, a professor and researcher at the University of Houston, said this means two things.
First, there has been a change in how people view schools.
"It speaks to that. In this particular moment, a distrust is in government and government institutions. We started seeing this really directed as school districts and boards during the pandemic in Texas," Sands said.
Second, in a national landscape focused in part on the economy, people may be less willing to use their money to pay for public schools.
"People have a real fear of that, of what their bottom line is. And that was probably true for many of these bonds. When they feel tight about the funds that they have, they are more worried about where taxes will go up," Sands said.
If bonds aren't passing, what will schools do?
HISD's two bond preposition failed, but voters in Waller ISD were split. They approved over $700 million for new schools, but rejected $11 million for technology. When both districts were asked how they'll make up for the lost money, they had similar answers.
"We're going to keep trying to get more grants. We're going to try and get the legislature to put more money into safety and security," HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said.
"Our team is looking at grant opportunities and other creative ways to solve the problem and continue to meet our state requirement when it comes to student and teacher devices," Waller ISD head of communications Sarah Marcus said.
Sands said with more districts turning to grants, there will naturally be less to go around, making them more competitive than they already are. Grants can be hard to secure and difficult to qualify for. Often, they only cover a small portion of what districts need.
"This is a great area for the state to really show its muscle, show its power, and think about how we use our state funds to improve infrastructure," Sands said.
Sands says districts need to refocus on how they are sell bonds to voters, citing HISD as a prime example.
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