BISHOP, Tx — Residents in Bishop have a decision to make at the polls. Bishop CISD proposed a bond with two propositions. Proposition A is focused on classroom and academic improvements. These are items like security cameras, doors, playgrounds, restrooms and gyms. Proposition B is geared toward sports complex improvements for the football, baseball, and softball stadiums.
The bond is estimated at $28 million.
Resident Wayne Grant voted against the bond, and he said that amount sounds like a lot.
“I’m not really against it. I believe the things in the bond are good and valid things. My only problem is the $28 million at one time, where it could be five million to get things done in increments all the way up to $28 million down the road. That would be more feasible for residents here,” Grant said.
A 1$5.225 million bond was passed in 2018 for the district. Bishop CISD Superintendent Christina Gutierrez said the 2024 bond has already been broken up from the 2018 one to make it less taxing on residents.
“Back then, we had a whole list of projects and even some that didn’t make the list, knowing that in the future, we would have an additional bond and get more of those projects done. So we’ve been talking about them for a very long time,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said the bond has been in the works for years.
“We went to the school board in October to put a facilities committee together with random people in the community,” Gutierrez said.
Grant said he only heard about it in February.
“I don’t believe it’s enough time for citizens to get a good idea of which way to vote when you ask for $28 million. They didn’t take anybody around,” Grant said.
Gutierrez said they couldn’t take the committee to view the schools due to bad weather at the time, so they took pictures of items on the bond list that needed repairs to show.
For other residents, like Joe Montalvo Jr, who went to Bishop and now has his kids here, he said he’s viewing things from a long-term perspective.
“Kingsville is just five minutes away. If I’m a family passing Bishop on the highway, it’s very easy to miss. If we don’t take care of things that are apparent to families, it won’t incentivize families to stay. Nobody loves taxes. I don’t, but I feel like we really need to question ourselves to think what is this going to do to help the community? What is it going to do to help the students that attend this school, and better yet, what is it going to do to incentivize and bring in more population so that way one day, our taxes might go down with more people living in the community,” Montalvo said.
One of the items on the bond is playground improvements, which Montalvo said would make him feel safer as a parent.
“They both love school. They love everything about it, but just like any kid, they love to play. There’s two playgrounds that I’m concerned about on the primary campuses that have rubber infield that when the kids stop playing, they’re full of black slit when the get off the playground,” Montalvo said.
He also mentioned how stadium improvements could help current and future students.
“Take into consideration the amount of admiration these kids have for something and reward them for it. Not doing so can limit what they can have as far as possibilities,” Montalvo said.
Grant said that although he sees the bond items as a good thing for students, it might still take a toll on residents.
“I believe all citizens in Bishop are feeling the pinch of the economy and how things are getting more expensive and nobody’s pay is going up,” Grant said.
If the bond passes, residents will pay slightly more on their property taxes. But at the end of the day, and no matter the outcome, Grant, Montalvo, and Gutierrez said they encourage everyone to vote.
“It’s a simple yes or no vote. We respect everybody, we respect the people that are going to go out and vote period. Whether it’s a yes vote or no vote, we appreciate the fact that they’re getting out to vote. If it passes, fantastic. If it doesn’t pass then we’ll try again in the future, but it’s just something the district had to do to make things better for our students,” Gutierrez said.
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