Tour gives parents insight into Navarro $160M bond request

Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette

Navarro ISD is experiencing growth that has its schools busting at the seams and something needs to be done, district administrators said.

The district is asking voters to approve a pair of bond initiatives leaders say will address space and other facilities issues at the complex in Geronimo. On Wednesday, Navarro administrators invited the community to an informational meeting detailing the $160 million requested to build a new high school, a second elementary school, new athletics facilities, and buy more land.

Amanda Thomas, parent to a ninth-grade and a fourth-grade student in the district, who attended the meeting, said she got her money’s worth.

“I like this; I think it’s very informative,” she said. “It opens the eyes, maybe even for naysayers. It’s helpful and shows we need the bond, definitely need it.”

From what she learned and witnessed as staff and school board members took community members on a tour of parts of the current high school and sports facilities, the bond money and increased tax rates are worth supporting, Thomas said.

About 30 people including staff, parents and children participated in the district’s meeting, which Superintendent Wendi Russell billed as a “show-and-tell” event. She flipped it into a “tell-and-show,” with district personnel telling community members some reasons a bond is needed before the walking tour.

Growth is a major concern, said Deputy Superintendent and Junior High School Principal Luke Morales. He has been with the district nearly 20 years and marvels at the way the district is ballooning, Morales said.

“We have growth coming up,” he said. “With growth comes kids.”

Demographers estimate the construction of 350 to 500 new homes per year in the district within the next five years, Morales said. About nine subdivisions are platted within the district’s boundaries and there are plans for about another 12 in the near future, he said.

NISD estimates an additional 1,000 students will enroll in the district within the next five years, Morales said.

Currently, Navarro High School has 640 students enrolled and the building only has capacity for about 650, High School Principal Clay Scarborough said. Projections put the high school population at about 760 students by the year 2024, he said.

The bond, if passed, would help alleviate the obvious stress on the facilities, Scarborough said. Bond money also would afford the high school new facilities for agricutlure, career and technology classrooms, and more, he said.

As he walked through the small, aging locker rooms, coaches’ offices, special education classes and other areas of the school complex, parent James Reyes said he learned valuable information from the district’s presentation. He attended for information and wasn’t disappointed.

“This tour has been helpful in pointing out needs the bond will address,” Reyes said. “We need to do what we need to do to address growth.”

A little more than $42 per month in additional property taxes for the average home in the district is a good deal to update facilities for his now-sixth-grade daughter and other students who are directly affected by the community’s decision on the bonds, he said.

“I’m for it,” Reyes said. “The break down of cost is a small price to pay for the benefit of our children. It’s an investment in their future.”

Early voting for the Nov. 2 election begins Monday. All registered voters in the district need to cast their ballots whether for or against the bonds, Russell said.

The election impacts the entire district, not one person or one board, she said. Passage of the bonds are important to deal with the quickly-expanding district, said NISD Chief Financial Officer Paul Neuhoff, who added that he has lived in Guadalupe County his entire life.

“I’ve never seen growth like this,” Neuhoff said. “The growth is here and here to stay, in my opinion.”

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