(Seguin) — Let the building and renovation begin. Seguin ISD voters on Saturday approved a $64.7 million bond issue. A total of 1,569 ballots were cast in favor of the bond while 799 votes were cast against it.
The bond projects include a $39 million rebuild of A.J. Briesemeister Middle School; $17.3 million for the rebuild of Matador Stadium at Seguin High School; $3.9 million for renovations at Jefferson Avenue Elementary; $1 million for the land purchase of a future McQueeney Elementary School; $1.8 million for ADA playscapes at each elementary school and $1.7 million for district wide campus improvements such as drainage and HVAC.
Superintendent Matthew Gutierrez says he was overwhelmed by the 66.2 percent of voters who came out to show their support. He says it makes going forward easier and it makes being successful more probable.
“I’m thankful to the community for making sure their voices were heard by participating in our democracy and voting. But I’m just even more thankful that our community kept kids at the forefront in this decision, kept the future of Seguin ISD at the forefront of this decision. I guess, I’m almost speechless because I’m very excited about this. I’m excited about the future. I know there’s going to be a lot of work that is about to happen, but the fact that we are beginning to address some of the biggest needs in the school district is certainly something that I am excited about. I’m a Matador today and I’m proud every day, but just thankful that people have this level of support for Seguin ISD,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez says Saturday’s outcome was all part of his vision coming in as the superintendent of schools. He says addressing facilities was something that was made very evident by the community even before officially taking the position.
“Part of my 90 Day Entry Plan included addressing this by doing some things such as making sure that we had a facilities audit that took place — having a demographer come and look at our enrollment trend, by having an architect look at the special integrity of our facilities and then finally bringing 30
stakeholders together to serve on the facilities committee and this group of people served on this committee for over a year. So there was a lot of thought and effort that went into getting to this point and going out to the community and asking for $65 million to support Bond 2019. That is part of the vision. My vision for Seguin ISD is for us to move forward to think about the future, to set up our students for success. Part of that is addressing the facilities. When I go into that high school, I am so thankful that the community supported that new state-of-the-art high school. It has certainly changed the way students learned. It’s transformed the way they’ve learned in the digital age, but it’s also instilled a sense of pride in those students. That is something that we need to see across the board from pre-k to 12th grade,” said Gutierrez.
Also celebrating the future of the district is Seguin ISD School Board President Cinde Thomas-Jimenez. Jimenez says she is thankful to the community for pulling together and having their voices heard at the polls. She is also especially thankful to the facilities committee for rolling out a long range plan and then proposing this bundle of projects that were of high priority.
“I am just full of hope and promise for this community. I think this is a big step forward for the city of Seguin. I am so grateful to everybody who voted for the bond. I really appreciate their time to go out and vote and eternally grateful to the facilities committee for all the work that they did,” said Thomas-Jimenez.
Prior to taking office in November, Trustee Denise Crettenden was among those who invested their time in being a part of the facilities committee. Crettenden says she is honored to have been a part of the process and looks forward to following through with the board’s promise to the voters.
“I am very excited that the voters of Seguin ISD chose to let us move forward with this. We worked for almost a year on the facilities committee to really come up with a plan that would bring facilities in Seguin ISD up to the shape that our students deserve. I feel really good that the citizens of Seguin agreed with us on taking that next step. There’s some more steps that need to be taken in the future, but I’m excited that the voters went ahead and took this first step. I think it’s going to do big things for Seguin ISD,” said Crettenden.
Gutierrez says Saturday’s outcome was especially incredible during this part of his personal journey as superintendent. But at the end of this victory, he says it’s the kids who are the real winners.
“It certainly means a lot as the superintendent of schools. Its taken a lot of effort to get to this point and not just for me, but folks on my team. We’ve really poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this. We didn’t hire a consultant to come and work with us to help us get this bond passed. We took ownership of it and I’m just thankful for the folks that work closely with me. I’m thankful for the community for paying very close attention, making sure that they were informed before they went to the polls. By attending presentations, by doing research on the Bond 2019 website. So for a first time superintendent, it’s a very proud moment for, absolutely. I guess my position right now is that kids win. Our kids have won and I thank the community for making sure that our kids win,” said Gutierrez.
District officials say the approval of this bond election is just the first step in attacking remaining projects on the district’s long range plan. Among the first projects to be tackled are the rebuild of Matador Stadium and the pre-planning for the rebuild of Briesemeister Middle School.