By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDR-CISD) Superintendent Dr.
Carlos Rios detailed future school projects that will be funded by a proposed $50 million bond
issue during a question-and-answer session at the county library on Wednesday.
The Border Organization (TBO) hosted the event with Rios to give details about the $50 million
bond issue, which school board members have agreed to put before local voters in November.
Rios talked about the five key projects that will be supported by bond package.
The school board member and administrators who attended the meeting included Josh Overfelt,
school board vice president; Jane Villarreal, chief academic officer; Carlos Barrera, chief
compliance officer; Sandra Hernandez, chief administrative officer; and Reno Luna, director of
communications and public relations.
The projects the bond money will go towards will be replacing the Del Rio Freshman Center
Project campus at a $25 million cost, renovating the Buena Vista Elementary School campus at
an $8 million cost, adding a gym to the San Felipe Memorial Middle School (SFMMS) Campus
at a $2 million cost, building a new tech facility at a $7 million cost at SSFMS and renovations to
Bobby “Barrera” Barrera Elementary School campus at a $7 million cost.
The five projects were recommended to the board of trustees by the citizen assistance
committee, which is made up of teachers and community members studying the pressing needs
of the district. Rios said the committee recommended the five projects to the board.
Overfelt spoke about the projects while showing pictures and graphs for reference. Overfelt
talked about the freshman campus, which he said is the oldest secondary campus and which is
in need of significant renovation. He talked about the main building on campus and how it has
“extensive” electrical and air conditioning (AC) issues. He said the main building itself would
cost $10 million in repairs. Overfelt also mentioned the campus’s courtyard, which floods
during heavy rains, saying renovations would alleviate those issues.
“When the committee, which is made up of citizens of the community and is not made up of
board members, had to prioritize the items, this (project) was the one that was put at the top,”
Overfelt said.
Continuing on the freshman campus, Overfelt presented details of a plan to create a new two-
story building to replace the current freshman campus, which includes classrooms, a cafeteria,
library and administration offices. Overfelt said the building would take two years to complete.
“So instead of having all these separate buildings, which present a security risk, where you have
kiddos going outside and being exposed to either the elements or whatever it might be, the (new
building) will keep everybody inside now for the vast majority of the school day,” Overfelt said.
Overfelt then talked about the campus at Buena Vista, which he said is the oldest elementary
school campus in town. The issues Buena Vista has include AC and heating issues, outdated wood paneling and insufficient cafeteria and kitchen space.
Overfelt emphasized the need to
redo all the wood paneling, repaint areas, install new windows and fix the AC and heating
issues.
Besides the core issues with Buena Vista, Overfelt said another objective is the idea of
expanding the cafeteria and kitchen areas on campus. He emphasized how expanding the
campus facilities is important to accommodate the school’s growing population.
Overfelt then discussed SFMMS and the idea of creating a new tech center on Garza Street and
Waters Street. Overfelt then said the school district wants to add another gym for SFMMS to
expand locker rooms and include an athletics program and laundry rooms. The new gym will be
added between the new tech center described earlier and the current existing gym at SFMM.
Before moving on with the presentation, TBO co-chair Sandra Fuentes asked questions related
to renovations for SFMMS. She asked if future plans are to close Water Street, and Overfelt
said the district wants to speak with the nearby residents about solutions to keeping Water
Street open during construction, including using it as a one-way street.
Rios then spoke about Bobby Barrera Elementary School campus, which is at Laughlin Air
Force Base. Even though it is on military property, Rios said the school belongs to the school
district, emphasizing the importance of the school as well as Laughlin to the community.
“One of the questions we get is, ‘Why would we want to use taxpayer money to build a school
installation (at the base)?’ The first reason is that it’s our school . . . Those are our teachers, and
it’s in our attendance boundary for the district. The second reason is when working with other
members in the community, the school is the largest employer in the community, and the
second-largest employer in the community is Laughlin. So it is in the interest of the community
to keep Laughlin viable and keep producing jobs,” Rios said.
Rios said a proposed $7 million budget will be used to build a brick-and-mortar campus, which
will help the growing population at the campus on Laughlin and benefit both the military families
and the community. After talking about each project, Rios elaborated on the effects of this bond
election and how it will not cost the taxpayers a single cent in tax increase.
“Right now, people pay 18.77 cents for every $100 of value into your property to pay for bonds,
so the question will be, ‘How is it that you’re not going to borrow money and that tax rate is not
going to go up?’ How is it that we’re going to keep paying 18.77 cents? Well, it’s just like our
own credit. I was younger, had more credit cards, and then you get a consolidation loan, you
pay (the cards) off, and now you’re able to borrow more money. It will be the same thing here.
“We paid off debt, and we continue to pay debt off, so now we can borrow more money and still,
with the same payment, make that payment with the same amount of money. So that 18.77
cents will not go up. It’s not free money because we do have to pay it back, but the tax rate
does not go up,” Rios said.
After Rios finished his presentation, the TBO members and people who attended the meeting
were allowed to ask several questions. Irma Cardenas asked if the federal government can
pitch in to help with the projects at Laughlin. Rios said the school district has applied for federal
grants in the past and can continue to apply for grants to aid with the projects.
Continuing on the topic of Bobby Barrera Elementary, Fuentes asked if children who live outside
Laughlin could attend the school. Rios said Bobby Barrera is open for any children to enroll in.
Rios also added that families who live close to the base can enroll their students at Laughlin as
long as they have transportation to enter the campus.
Fuentes thanked Rios for informing the people who attended the meeting about the details on
Bobby Barrera Elementary and why it is important to the school district. One of the last
questions was from Melinda Ponce, who asked Rios what the exact bond rate is, and though
Rios did not have an exact number, he said “it’s really good.”
