Doa Ana County voters approve school bonds

Voters in Doa Ana County continue a tradition of supporting Las Cruces Public Schools, approving a $65 million bond election Tuesday night.

The Doa Ana County Clerk’s office gave ABC-7 preliminary, unofficial voting numbers: 4,537 voters were in favor of the bond; 1,259 voted against it.

“This is really gratifying,” said Jo Galvan, the spokeswoman for LCPS. “(The bond’s passage) continues to show that our community stands behind our kids.”

LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds called the bond’s approval a “tremendous victory” and added that the community has yet to fail a bond since the creation of the school district in the 1950s.

“They care about our kids; they invest in our kids all the time. We’re proud of this victory,” Rounds told the ABC-7 New Mexico Mobile Newsroom.

Rounds said the bond would not cause property taxes to increase.

The money will be used to build and renovate schools and classrooms. Other funds will increase school security, build soccer and baseball fields at the Field of Dreams and provide tech upgrades to the district.

Voters living in the Gadsden ISD also approved a $38 million bond Tuesday. Officials with the Doa Ana County Clerk’s office told ABC-7 the unofficial, preliminary results showed 476 people were in favor and 44 were against.

GISD Superintendent Efren Yturralde said in a statement he was pleased with the election’s results.

“…These bond funds will allow us to not only provide much needed facilities in Chaparral but will also complete Gadsden High’s renovation, new classrooms for Desert Pride Academy and the exciting Early College High School program,” Yturralde stated.

“Voters have made a valuable investment in the future of the children of Gadsden ISD. The continued academic improvement of our schools will be supported by the facilities that will result from this successful bond election. Thank You.”