(Seguin) — The Seguin ISD has officially locked down land for a future middle school and new ag facility center.
Sean Hoffmann, the chief communications officer for the Seguin ISD, says the closing documents were signed on Wednesday for the 81.24 acre property east of Seguin.
The property, located at 1329 Ilka Rd., was purchased from a private seller in the amount of $1.9 million.
Hoffmann says the purchase of the land was funded thanks to voters who approved $2 million in the 2022 bond election.
“In doing so, that property will allow us to plan for a future middle school — a third middle school for the Seguin ISD. The property makes a nice triangle between AJB, Barnes and this new site.
It is located on the east side of Ilka Road just south of I-10 and we look forward to moving on that project and identifying how it will be best be used for us in the future,” said Hoffmann.
Due to the property’s size, shape and topography, Hoffmann says the Ilka Road site also lends itself to serve as the ideal location for the district’s proposed agriculture science facility, also approved in the 2022 bond initiative.
“We had earmarked about $9 million to construct the ag facility. It is something Seguin ISD has never had and the goal being to create a facility in which we can allow more students who want to participate in Ag to be able to do so. Right now as it stands, our students who want to show animals usually have to keep the animals either on their family’s property or a friend’s or neighbor’s property. So, we know that that limits the number of students participating in ag and by having this ag science facility, we are able to increase that opportunity for our students and then there are some standing ag structures currently on the property and we are hoping that our architect will be able to work some of those structures into the drawings for our future Ag site,” said Hoffmann.
With the purchase of the land also comes the reminder that the district is not expected to begin building a new middle school until maybe five or seven years down the road. That exact cost of the school will also have to come before voters in the years ahead.
The construction of the Ag center, however, is expected to be sooner. That, again, is thanks to voter approved dollars.
Hoffmann says the district is thankful to have secured property that will allow it to put its visions in motion for the two new properties. He says like in everything else, prices of land continue to soar and says the district just couldn’t risk paying more later.
“All things considered, the price was within our budget. It was within what voters approved for us to spend and again, we are fortunate to not only be able to use that site for a future middle school site but also to house that ag science facility. So, really, we were able to get two facilities in one location for our future students with a purchase that met the budget approved by our voters,” said Hoffmann.
Meanwhile, Hoffmann says the Seguin ISD is well equipped to handle its current enrollment at both middle schools. He says the growth anticipated in the very near future is already being addressed.
“The AJB project as we’re adding on to AJB, we are increasing our square footage per classroom so that will enable us to allow more students to attend AJB. With the Barnes renovation coming up here in the future — again another Bond 2022 project — we will be able to increase our classroom’s square footage allowing us to take in additional students but we do know there is a cap. There is going to be a sweet spot. Once those two schools reach that sweet spot, it becomes crowded again. So, again we are envisioning that in the future and again we may be talking five, seven years down the road in which a new middle school is going to have to be built to meet the needs of the community,” said Hoffmann.
District officials say the next step will to begin drafting plans for the construction of the new ag science center. The hope is to have the center up and running as soon as possible.