By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s local public school district has plans to improve four of its campuses, but to do so it’ll need voters to approve a bond package worth $50 million.
San Felipe Del Rio CISD Superintendent Dr. Carlos Rios explained Thursday in an interview with the 830 Times explained that the district’s board of trustees unanimously approved the issuance of bonds to fund campus improvements at Del Rio Freshman, Buena Vista Elementary, Bobby Barrera Elementary and San Felipe Middle schools. If everything proceeds as planned, the item will be put to voters in November as part of a special called election.
Rios said if the bond passes then plans would be to begin construction on Barrera as quickly as possible. He said the campus, which was constructed eight years ago and is located on Laughlin Air Force Base, serves 175 students of which up to half reside in Del Rio. He said the district has applied for government grants for the past three years to help construct permanent classrooms at the campus, but thus far the district has been unsuccessful.
“The financial impact Laughlin has on this community is huge. It’s probably the largest employer for Del Rio,” Rios said. “We’ve applied for three years straight, but the demand on the government for those types of grants just hasn’t allowed us to be awarded one.”
Rios said the bond would allow the district to construct an entirely new school for Barrera Elementary, which currently features several temporary buildings. He said because the school is on federal property the district has had to get several documents and permits in place before construction can begin.
“We’re ready to put that project out for bid immediately if the bond passes,” Rios said.
The expected cost for the project would be $6 to $7 million and would take about one year for its completion.
The largest, and most expensive, project on the district’s list of campuses to be improved with the bond is the Del Rio Freshman School campus. Approximately 50 years old, Rios said the school was built to fit the needs of consolidation between the Del Rio and San Felipe school districts, but the campus needs some serious renovations.
“The needs of the campus are extensive. The main wing needs a new electrical system to sustain HVAC and technological improvements,” Rios said, adding that the cost for renovations to the main building would cost $5 million on its own.
“Our plan is to put everything under one roof. That means the library, administrative offices, classrooms, cafeteria and even the gymnasium would all be consolidated in one building,” Rios said.
He explained that the district would demolish the library and administrative offices, which currently sit near the parking area, and house them in a separate building while a larger, permanent structure is built in the courtyard of the campus.
The project would take two years to complete at a projected cost of about $20 million.
Also on the project list is renovations to the oldest campus in the district – Buena Vista Elementary School.
Over the years the campus has added a new gymnasium, a new pickup loop for parents, additional parking spaces and a new library. Now, the campus’ main building needs some improvement.
“We want to remodel the hallways, from the floors to the ceilings, as well as the air conditioning system. We also want to expand the cafeteria,” Rios said. “It would roughly resemble what was done at Del Rio High School.”
The project would take several months to complete. The projected cost would be between $9-$11 million.
The fourth project scheduled to benefit from the bond package would be the construction of a new gymnasium and a new technology building at San Felipe Memorial Middle School.
The former San Felipe High School, and San Felipe Middle School, the middle school houses sixth, seventh and eighth graders after several years serving solely sixth graders.
Rios said the plans for the school would be to construct a new technology building in support of the school’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) programs.
“It would be a new tech building and not a classroom wing. It would be a shell to allow for projects. We also want to second gymnasium adjacent to the locker rooms and current gymnasium. The two gyms would connect through the locker room,” Rios said.
The second gym would be a practice gym and would not feature any seating, according to Rios.
The project would take several months to complete with Rios explaining he believes it could be done for around $10 million.
With the bonds approved by the board of trustees, the next step is the November election. If voters approve the bond measure, then the district would meet with its financial advisor to sell the bonds in $25 million increments to begin work on the projects. All of that could take place as early as March 2026.
“One of the good things for our taxpayers is that the tax rate for the school district will remain the same. We’ve been aggressive in paying off some of our debt, so we are able to keep the tax rate unchanged,” Rios said.
Taxpayers will help pay the bonds through Interest and Sinking (I&S) funds. Those funds will be collected through a tax rate of .1877 cents per $100 of property valuation.
“Our expectations, if handled appropriately, would be that these projects would be completed four years after the sale of the bonds,” Rios said. “I just want to remind the public that bond monies can only be designated for these projects only. They can’t be used for anything else.”
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
