Jefferson-Silva High campus denied classroom repairs; gets athletic upgrades

The Jefferson-Silva High campus is anticipating athletic upgrades, although it also asked for classroom updates, but was denied.

The El Paso Independent School District reallocated money left over from it’s 2007 bond toward athletic upgrades for a number of schools, including new stadiums at Franklin High and the Jefferson-Silva campus.

More than $2 million was set aside for a 6,000-seat stadium, concession stand, and baseball field renovations. But by June, Jefferson-Silva Principal Fred Rojas and a handful of students weighed what they thought the school really needed.

Before a bond committee, they asked the millions be spent on a smaller stadium since game attendance rarely exceeds 1,400. This would save enough money to build a field house, renovate the science labs and the special ed building, which is riddled with mold, and has a roof caving in, can’t even be deconstructed. The walls are riddled with asbestos and if torn down, hazardous particles could be released.

The group also asked the bond committee to use the money to fix the pavement and install new gym bleachers.

The bond committee very quickly said no. Their reasoning was this money was specifically meant for athletic purposes. If Jeff-Silva got to chose how it was spent, then every school had to be given the same opportunity.But Rojas didn’t give up.

“We’ve gone four times actually,” Rojas said.

Now, nearly a year after the money was first allocated to Jeff-Silva, the bond committee gave the green light on a 3,000 seat stadium, a new weight room, concession stand, press box, new lighting and their baseball field will be moved to nearby Henderson Park. But they denied the request to fix up the classrooms.

When ABC-7 first aired this story, viewers were vocal. One viewer commented:

“The folks at Jeff are literally saving the district money and getting more bang for the buck. What are these idiots thinking? Give Jeff what it needs, not what you want. Principal Rojas and the staff, students, and parents of Jefferson, I salute you and hope this isn’t the end of it.”

Another wrote in:

“It just seems that when it comes to spending taxpayer money, the stewards of these monies always think they have the best (or the only) ideas.”

“They were listening to us, and we were working together and I think we came to an agreement and I think we just love the fact that they’re supporting us and that we’re going to have finally a stadium here at Jefferson- Silva,” Rojas said.

Rojas also said EPISD is considering tearing down Jefferson High and rebuilding it. He said the bond committee took that into consideration, and didn’t want to invest in something that could potentially be demolished.

The funding has been approved by the Board of Managers, but the contract for construction still needs approval. Bids should go out in January.