COURSE OFFERINGS
Lovejoy's proposed course offerings presented to the public before the vote to expand from K-6 to K-12 included regular track classes PLUS 32 pre-AP & AP classes plus 28 advanced and gifted (GT) classes for grades 6th-8th.

"Many advanced offerings:
32 pre-AP and AP classes, plus 15 advanced courses for grades 6-8"

Get the Facts, Not Rumors
and Half-Truths!
Fact: The Lovejoy administration has presented a curriculum outline that includes the vast majority of courses our students take now. It has to — half of Lovejoy sophomores, for example, take advanced English instead of regular English. It’s true that a Lovejoy high school won’t have a broadcast studio or a robotics lab. What Lovejoy will have is a full complement of AP and other advanced courses — 32 AP and pre-AP courses, plus advanced courses for 6th graders, which Allen does not offer because its 6th graders are still in the elementaries. See the proposed curriculum at http://www.lovejoyisd.net for more information.

Lovejoy's new curriculum has eliminated regular track classes.

Lovejoy will only offer core pre-AP and AP classes.

It is speculated that the reason for only offering advanced courses is due to LACK OF FINANCIAL PLANNING for the CHILDREN.

It appears that Lovejoy cannot afford to offer both regular and advanced tracks.

This is unfortunate for special needs and learning difference children.

Lovejoy opens the secondary school without sharing a line-item budget with the public.

Year 2004, Lovejoy residents petitioned the Legislative Budget Board to require Lovejoy to provide secondary budgetary information to the community, to no avail.

SMALL CLASS SIZES
No printed information from Lovejoy ISD on this topic to dispel the pervasive community belief that class sizes would remain small.

No mention of elementary overcrowding.
Lovejoy secondary school overcrowding is a possibility due to the inability to pass future bonds and remain under the 50-cent cap.

FINANCIAL SHAPE

Lovejoy ISD residents.. should be happy to learn that the district does, in fact, know what it will cost to operate the new Lovejoy high school and middle school. Even better, we've been saving money for years to cover the transition and start-up costs. Lovejoy currently has $9.7 million in its "fund balance," which is comparable to a household's savings account.
Jan 2005, Rich Hickman, Lovejoy School Board President

???????????????????????
Moak & Casey NEVER stated that Lovejoy is financially capable of operating its own secondary schools.

Moak & Casey in their summary state:
"The decision to pursue the status quo, to establish a secondary facility at Lovejoy, or to consolidate the districts, can be informed, but not fully addressed by the revenue estimates provided by this report. A final decision will require additional analysis of the budget implications for each scenario and further exploration of local preferences".

Lovejoy NEVER completed a pro-forma secondary operations budget analysis.

TAX RATE
The current tax rate for Lovejoy ISD is $1.60. Current studies indicate that the tax rate is expected to begin
climbing in the 2004-2005 school year and would be in the $1.90s by 2006-2007.

Rich Hickman,
Lovejoy School Board President

Currently the tax rate is $1.60 ($1.45 for M&O and $ .15 for Debt Service).
In 2003-2004 the tax rate will be in the $1.60’s.
The tax rate will begin to rise in 2004-2005.
Lovejoy Bond presentation

"We don't understand how..... jumping to the higher tax rate in Allen is a benefit? We're not CPAs but our budget tells us if we can enjoy Lovejoy's $1.60 tax rate for a year or two while Lovejoy builds we saved money."
"This isn't just a school issue, it is a TAX issue. .....It makes sense, the only way to safeguard your wallet is to keep local control of your taxes by voting against consolidation.

Election judge hired by Lovejoy to run the consolidation election, bond election & school board elections

"If Lovejoy builds, its tax rate for 2003 is estimated to be in the low $1.60's for 2003 - a 30-cent advantage."

Fact: Lovejoy is classified as "property wealthy" already; the source of that wealth is irrelevant. Having more commercial tax base hasn’t kept Allen’s taxes low — they already pay 20 cents per $100 more than Lovejoy residents. Because Lovejoy has a substantial tax base already, it doesn’t matter what form that wealth takes. In our case, additional commercial property would not make a noticeable difference. As a homeowner, your tax bill is determined by your home value times the tax rate — and Lovejoy’s tax rate is now, and is projected to be in 2004, substantially lower than Allen’s. In 2004, your tax rate if we consolidate will be about $1.92; if we vote AGAINST consolidation, your taxes will stay around $1.60.

Tax rate was raised immediately, August 2003, after the successful April bond election 2003, despite previous statements that the tax rate would not be raised until year 2004-2005.

Tax rate raised 2003 to $1.70, the maximum amount possible to avoid a tax rollback election.

Tax rate raised again to the maximum amount allowed by law to $1.8234.
($1.50 M&O & $1.3234 I&S)
Lovejoy CANNOT raise this tax rate until more bonds are issued.

FUTURE TAX RATE

Current studies indicate that the tax rate is expected to begin
climbing in the 2004-2005 school year and would be in the $1.90s by 2006-2007. There would be no significant
difference in the tax rate and the length of time that tax rate would be in effect with consolidation or with Lovejoy ISD
building its own schools. The exception being that Allen ISD’s tax rate would rise more rapidly under consolidation
than Lovejoy ISD’s would while building its own schools.

Rich Hickman, Lovejoy School Board President

We believe if Lovejoy builds their own secondary schools, there will be higher school taxes after 2004 for a longer period of time. The $61 Million-Bond package is just the first. It only covers a high school, middle school, elementary school. This does not cover a bus/service barn, or administration building. Lovejoy projects one more middle school and 2 more elementary schools, not included in the bond.

Lovejoy ID tax rate going up:
February 2005 Financial Projections show proposed tax rate
$1.96 year 2006 and
$1.99 year 2008

Allen ISD tax rate going down:
Allen ISD tax rate
2004-2005 -1.9334

Allen ISD tax rate
2005-2006 - $1.9124.

Lovejoy CANNOT raise the tax rate above the current level of $1.823. They have reached the state cap of $1.50 for the Maintenance and Operations portion.

The Interest and Sinking rate is capped at $.50. This rate covers bond repayment for the cost of buildings, maintenance, and other items included in bond packages.

Lovejoy should raise their tax rate this summer as they issue more bonds.

AllenISD has an excellent reputation of serving special needs.They have a resident psychologist, and on-site dedicated staff of diagnosticians for immediate student aid, with a written policy to help teachers identify special needs. Allen has a program to teach all elementary children organizational skills.

Fact: Lovejoy does an exceptional job of educating its special-needs children. Marianne Nevil, whose daughter uses a wheelchair and is medically fragile, says "Lovejoy and Mr. Breedlove have been very accommodating of her needs. She gets the one-on-one attention and special therapy she needs, and still gets to be around the other kids. We wouldn’t have this kind of flexibility in Allen."

Lovejoy curriculum includes NO regular track classes for secondary students, only PRE-AP and AP classes.

Speculation is that there is not enough money for regular track classes, so these classes were eliminated in lieu of advanced classes for advanced students.

Lovejoy Secondary Curriculum