Byline: Bob Banta, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Voters in the Jarrell school district approved bond money for a new high school on Saturday, while Thrall school district voters approved two of three bond proposals before them.

In Jarrell, voters approved by a vote of 1,045 to 208 a $14.9 million bond proposal to build a high school.

"It was a landslide. We're proud. It was better than 5-to-1," said Jarrell Independent School District Superintendent Jamie Mattison, who celebrated Saturday night at the home of board member Priscilla King.

Mattison called the approval for a high school "a turning point" and a "life-changing event" for the community about 40 miles north of Austin.

The district's high school was built in 1916. The second floor of the old structure does not meet state fire codes and is off-limits to students.

Trustees plan to build a one-story, 98,000-square-foot building on FM 487 west of the city, near the district's athletic complex.

The new high school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007.

Jarrell school trustees estimate that passage of the bond proposal will cause the district's tax rate to rise from $1.56 per $100 in property value to $1.71 next year.

The first proposition on Thrall's ballot, which passed 224-116, allows the district to sell $715,000 in bonds to refinance existing bond debt.

The debt currently is paid from the district's operations budget.

By refinancing, more money will be available from the operations budget to run the schools, Superintendent Keith Brown said.

The second proposition, which passed 198-141, was to issue $340,000 in bonds to install new lighting in the schools, upgrade air-conditioning units on campuses, build a sidewalk and make other upgrades, including resurfacing tennis courts and replacing a gymnasium floor.

Proposition 3, which failed by 245-88, would have used $240,000 in bonds to construct an agriculture building to house pens for animals that students raise for livestock shows.