Much of the support for the campaign to pass Dallas ISD’s $6.2 billion bond issue came from companies and executives in the construction, architecture and real estate industries, records show.

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The top individual donor to the campaign was Dallas billionaire Ray Hunt, and the biggest overall donor was the education advocacy nonprofit Commit Partnership. Other top contributors included construction companies and executives that have worked with Dallas ISD in the past, including leaders from The Beck Group and Lincoln Property Company.

The campaign received contributions from 47 donors in amounts ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to $10 or less, records from the Texas Ethics Commission show.

Related:Dallas ISD voters approved historic $6.2 billion bond issue. When will construction begin?

The list of donors to the campaign also includes education advocates and other Dallas business leaders. Hunt, chairman of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., donated $50,000. Through a spokesman, Hunt declined to comment.

Out of 47 donations overall, 24 came from construction firms and executives, including some that have worked with Dallas ISD on past construction projects.

J. Tim Byrne, CEO of the Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company, donated $25,000. The company has handled real estate transactions for Dallas ISD. Officials with the company didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Fred Perpall, CEO of The Beck Group, donated $20,000. Dallas ISD hired the construction and architecture firm to serve as construction manager during the building of the new Thomas Jefferson High School and Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy. The campuses replaced school buildings that were badly damaged in a tornado on Oct. 20, 2019.

In a statement, Perpall said the bond issue was important for the city’s future.

“We cannot have a great Dallas without great schools,” he said. “Education creates opportunities and enables more people to fully participate in the strength of our community. This effort reflects an investment in students and the long-term future of Dallas.”

Dallas ISD officials and bond campaign leaders declared victory Saturday evening, after early and absentee vote returns showed all four parts of the bond issue held a commanding lead. Final vote tallies showed the bond, the largest in state history, passed easily. There was little organized opposition to the proposal.

Dupree Scovell, co-chair of the bond campaign and managing partner of Woodbine Development Corporation, said the city’s business community showed strong support for the campaign.

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Related: Dallas ISD leaders want voters to approve a record bond issue. What did the district get last time?

Many of the business leaders who supported the campaign haven’t had kids in Dallas ISD for years, if ever, said Scovell, who was also one of the campaign’s largest individual donors.

“They care about this city, and they know this is the right thing for our community going forward,” he said.

Related:Dallas Regional Chamber’s leader backs $6.2 billion Dallas ISD bond issue

The largest single donation — $220,000, or about a third of the campaign’s budget — came from the nonprofit Commit Partnership, which advocates for better economic opportunity through public education. A separate $35,000 donation came from the nonprofit’s sister organization, Commit To Students. Miguel Solis, president of the Commit Partnership and a former Dallas ISD school board member, served as co-chair of the campaign.

Todd Williams, founder and CEO of the Commit Partnership, said the bond issue represents one of the most transformational investments Dallas has ever made in its children. Dallas ISD leaders have said the bond issue would allow the district to get ahead of deferred maintenance and add enough classroom space to get thousands of students out of aging portable classrooms. Those investments send students the message that they matter, Williams said.

Commit has supported a number of North Texas school district bond issues. Historically, school districts have limited those proposals to what they thought voters would approve, Williams said, which meant they rarely covered everything the district needed. He said it was encouraging to see Dallas voters show such strong support for a bond package that will bring the district up to where it needs to be in terms of facilities.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

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