Opposition to McAllen ISD’s partnership with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for a collegiate high school crashed and burned Monday.
In a 4-1 vote, the board approved a construction agreement and a lease of facilities agreement, and also authorized Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez to execute those agreements upon the acceptance of its redlines by the university.
Trustees approved a memorandum of understanding for the $26 million deal in March, with the district hailing it as a way to give students a significant boost toward completing college.
Some regret over special projects sprouted up on the board during tough budget talks earlier this summer.
Trustee Sofia Peña said she opposed the school in those talks, arguing that the district could use the $12.5 million it’s contributing to the project more effectively.
Peña reiterated her opposition to the project at Monday’s meeting, saying she is concerned over recurring costs that will be tied to the school and that she feels there are current programs that exist at the district that can boost student’s collegiate careers.
“I just don’t think it’s the time,” she said. “Fiscally, we need to be responsible. We’re in a budget deficit and we have to give our teachers more.”
The prospect of the district reneging on the deal was significant enough that UTRGV President Guy Bailey attended the meeting as an audience member, though that possibility quickly evaporated.
Trustees Conrado “Ito” Alvarado and Sam Saldivar Jr., who both previously said they would support revisiting special projects like the UTRGV deal, seemed the most likely place for Peña to find allies in opposing it. Neither attended Monday’s meeting.
Other trustees who did attend — particularly Debbie Crane Aliseda, Marco Suarez and Danny Vela — supported the school in pretty much the strongest terms possible.
Those trustees particularly highlighted the school’s planned association with UTRGV’s medical school, an association they said was too good to pass up on. They characterized the project as a chance to bolster enrollment and keep the district’s educational offerings competitive, which they said could turn the school into a revenue generator for McAllen ISD.
“There’s a lot of positives. I hardly see any — in fact, I don’t see any negatives in approving this opportunity,” Vela said.
Superintendent Gonzalez, another apparent supporter of the school, rattled off several of those positives which he says will strengthen the district’s current menu of educational options.
“What we’re trying to do with the UTRGV/McAllen ISD academy is expand on that menu, give a bachelor’s degree track and give students opportunities to have a clear pathway toward a bachelor of science. A masters. A doctorate. Professional degrees, and things of that sort,” he said. “And we couldn’t pick a better partner than UTRGV, when you look at the facility, when you look at the cost sharing, when you look at the fact that in their junior and senior year [students] are going to be learning from college professors. That’s just — it’s priceless.”
Monday’s vote likely doesn’t bode well for Alvarado’s push for the district to reconsider the district’s $4 million commitment to an expansion at Quinta Mazatlán, the other special project that earned some criticism on the board this summer.
The board still has not formally revisited that project and it’s not clear that they will.
