BISD: $23.4M in stimulus projects

By a narrow margin, the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved $23.4 million in new school construction that will cost district taxpayers just $6.32 million.

Under the stimulus act of 2010, BISD was eligible to borrow the money from the federal government and pay it back through Qualified School Construction Bonds. Also, as a property-poor school district, BISD qualifies for Instructional Facilities Allotments — state aid for bond payments — at a rate requiring the district to pay back just 27 percent of the cost and the state to pick up the remaining 73 percent, Larry Jordan of Estrada-Hinojosa, the district’s bond counsel, said.

Trustees were on a tight timeline, with stimulus funds expiring Dec. 31 and the state IFA eligibility expiring on Dec. 15. By acting Tuesday night, BISD locked in four projects:

ä A new campus for Brownsville Early College High School on the Fort Brown Campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. The school is to be built across from the old Texas National Guard building off University Boulevard at a cost not to exceed $5.49 million by Texas Descon, LP of McAllen.

Trustees awarded the construction contract by unanimous consent after approving the financing package earlier in the meeting on a 4-3 vote. Trustees Enrique Escobedo, Rolando Aguilar, Minerva Peña and Joe Colunga voted in favor, while board president Catalina Presas-Garcia and trustees Luci B. Longoria and Christina L. Saavedra voted against.

Saavedra had questioned the advisability of BECHS, which is a joint venture with UTB-TSC, when the future of the UTB-TSC partnership is in question. She also raised security issues, with the building site so close to the Rio Grande and Mexico’s drug war. Presas-Garcia and Longoria said spending millions on school construction makes no sense with a state school funding crisis looming.

ä A permanent campus for the Brownsville Academic Center, a disciplinary alternative school at Morrison and Robindale roads that currently occupies 40 portable buildings. The vote on the financing was 5-2, with Presas-Garcia voting in favor and the others voting as before. Trustees awarded the construction contract by unanimous consent to Descon, LP of McAllen at a cost not to exceed $8.43 million.

ä An instructional fine arts performance auditorium at Hanna High School, with the construction contract going to Spawglass Contractors Inc. of Harlingen on a 7-0 vote at a cost not to exceed $6.46 million. Hanna is the only BISD high school without an auditorium. The vote on the financing was the same 4-3.

ä A new instructional wing at Porter High School, with the construction contract going to D. Wilson Construction of McAllen by a 7-0 vote at a cost not to exceed $3.04 million. The vote on the financing was again 4-3.

glong@brownsvilleherald.com