Canutillo ISD board president talks flag controversy; district says conversation isn’t over

It seems the controversy over a painted flag at Reyes Elementary is over for now. The Canutillo Independent School District said now the goal is to get the school open in time for fall.

“We’ve got to build a school and we have got to go forward,” said CISD Board President Laure Searls.

Hunt Communities gave the board a letter after it became clear the district didn’t want the $10,000 donation. Neither Hunt nor the board is sharing the letter, but Searls gives ABC-7 insight into what the board thinks about the whole debacle.

“We had to build an over a million dollar wall out of our budget to comply with their covenants,” Searls said. “And that wasn’t easy to do. And that set us back financially.”

Since 2011, developer Hunt Communities has a covenant in its Cimarron Community charter, called the Cimarron Color Palette which is intended to complement and blend with the natural landscape colors of El Paso. There’s a list of Sherwin Williams colors residents can use unless otherwise approved.

“All parties, including Hunt and CISD, were aware that the flag-like impression on the wall did not conform to the specifications of the U.S. Flag Code,” said CISD spokesman Shane Griffith. “Due to the fact that the stars and waves of the impressions are nevertheless recognizable to everyone who views them, it was a natural suggestion to paint them red, white and blue.”

It didn’t match. Hunt Communities required the district to remove it.

“There were tears, there were shocked faces,” Searls said. “There was a lot of emotion. There was drama, as you could expect. We’re really a big veteran community.”

Searls and five other board members rejected Hunt’s peace offering Tuesday night, $10,000 for a flag pole. Reyes Elementary already has one. ABC-7 asked Searls if there was still a chance that money could go to another project, maybe the veterans memorial stadium the district plans on building in the future. She said no.

“It hasn’t been a tree that’s been fruitful for our district,” Searls said.

Hunt Communities officials would not share what they said in their letter to the board, but they did say “that letter contained our feelings on this matter and several potential solutions for the Board’s consideration.”

The district responded saying, “Conversations among all parties continue in which we’ll explore what is permissible based on the design and hopefully arrive at an appropriate solution in time for the first day of school in August.”