SISD Urging Parents, Taxpayers To Support Bond
The superintendent of the Socorro Independent School District met with taxpayers during a public forum Wednesday night in an effort to persuade them to vote for the proposed multimillion-dollar bond.
Horizon Heights Elementary School’s gym was filled with parents and their kids Wednesday night. The parents were interested to hear how the district plans to spend $297.4 million if the bond were to pass. A majority of the bond money would go to construction of new schools.
“We have come to a fork in the road where we can no longer suspend the eminent,” Dr. Xavier De La Torre, SISD superintendent, told ABC-7. “We’re going to have to provide schools for these students and continue to provide an excellent education.”
De La Torre said the district is growing by 3 percent a year, or adding 1,200 students annually. Much of the bond money would pay to build three elementary schools and one middle school, as well as complete two comprehensive high schools. The rest of the money would go to upgrading the cooling systems in the district’s elementary schools to refrigerated air and the technology in the aging schools.
The superintendent said the district is having to fill in the gaps left by the massive cuts to education at the state level. But the district head said he and those who came up with the bond amount are trying to be mindful of the state of the economy and how it is affecting taxpayers.
“To add anything that would be deemed non-essential or non-mission critical to our work I think would be a disservice and disrespectful of our taxpayers and our tax base,” De La Torre said.
Parents who spoke to ABC-7 after the forum ended seemed optimistic and favored the bond.
“Like he said, all children deserve the same learning experience,” said Mayve Sullivan, whose two children attend Horizon Heights. “And children are our greatest investment, so it’s very very important.”
De La Torre told ABC-7 the bond would increase the property tax on a $120,000 home by $2-$3 a month in the first year. That amount would then go up to $4.97 monthly, for a total school property tax of about $60 annually.
Early voting begins on Monday, May 2, and runs until Tuesday, May 10. Election Day is on Saturday, May 14.
