Newly-elected YISD trustee reacts to failed bond proposal, how district plans to move forward
The three people who won spots on the Ysleta Independent School District board during the May 9 election have a lot of work ahead of them. Two are newly elected. One was re-elected.
Connie Woodruff from District 2, the Bel Air High School area, was re-elected. Sotero G. Ramirez won the seat for District 6, the Ysleta High School area, and Mike Rosales from District 4, the Eastwood High School area, defeated incumbent Deby Lewis.
Voters rejected a nearly $452 million bond proposal Saturday.
ABC-7 spoke with Rosales about how the district plans to move forward without the money from the bond. If the bond proposal would have passed, his district would have seen a major overhaul.
“We have to honor and respect the taxpayer,” Rosales said. “The reality is that there’s a tremendous need to upgrade our facilities.”
YISD officials say they face problems such as declining enrollment, aging schools, a need for a rebrand into the 21st century and equity for all students. So, what’s next?
“We reconvene, we assemble and we make plans to go back out and provide information to the community, because the problems and challenges we have here in the Ysleta district will not go away by themselves,” Superintendent Xavier De La Torre said. He told ABC-7 taxpayers haven’t heard the last of the proposal. He plans to bring it up for a vote again during November’s election.
Rosales said the district can always use the help of people with YISD experience. That includes the trustee he replaced, Deby Lewis.
“I’d like to personally invite Deby Lewis and all her supporters to come into our camp also and help us in our efforts to make the YISD the top district in the state of Texas,” Rosales said.
Ysleta Teacher’s Association President Arlinda Valencia previously called the proposal inequitable due to the way the district planned to split money amongst feeder patterns.
If it would have passed, residents in the Ysleta district would have seen their taxes go up about 10 percent which De La Torre said would be about $5 to $12 more per month.
