Texas school district weighs $94M football stadium: 'Borderline obscene'

PROSPER, Texas (CITC) — A Texas school district is looking to spend nearly $100 million on a new football stadium, a record-breaking amount for the state.

The Prosper Independent School District (Prosper ISD) will propose the stadium to voters on Nov. 7. The football stadium, which would be Prosper ISD's second, is one of four propositions in the district's $2.8 billion package of bond proposals.

Prosper ISD is seeking $102,425,000 for the proposal, with $94 million going towards the stadium. The remaining funds would be used for renovations at existing athletic facilities, according to a bondwebsite created by the district.

The $94 million stadium would seat 8,000 spectators. Prosper ISD's existing stadium reportedly seats 12,000 and cost $53 million.

If approved, the stadium would be the most expensive school stadium ever built in Texas by $14 million, according to The Dallas Morning News.

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Prosper ISD is pushing for the construction of the stadium, as well as the other three propositions, due to the district's recent explosive growth. Nearly 21,000 new homes have been built in Prosper ISD's territory since 2016, according to the district.

"When our current senior class was entering kindergarten, Prosper ISD had only 3,000 students," the district's bond website reads. "We’ve added 25,000 since then."

The potential use of taxpayer funds has sparked debate among Prosper ISD parents and residents on social media, with some calling the price tag "borderline obscene."

"But yet, they can't afford to pay the teachers a living wage," Penny Jones said. "Tell us football matters more than education in Texas without actually saying it!!"

"Yet Texas doesn't dump that kind of insane money into EDUCATION," Laurie Hunchar added. "Just football."

A study published Monday found that Texas leads the nation in average starting teacher salaries.

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In a school choice discussion hosted by Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) last month, Texas State Board of Education member Staci Childs called for teachers to earn more than $100,000 annually. She argued that educators feel "dignified" to teach when they are paid more.

During the same discussion, Childs later admitted that when she taught fifth grade, most of her students were unable to read.

Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) reached out to Prosper ISD for comment, but did not receive a response prior to publication. This story will be updated if a response is received.

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