I think all of us agree that we just don’t want to Band-Aid it.
McAllen ISD trustees are once again gearing up to discuss what to do with Crockett Elementary, a question that has stumped district leadership for years.
Board focus was once again turned toward Crockett last Monday because of a proposed re-roofing project for the facility.
Trustees shied away from that proposal, describing it as a stop-gap measure that failed to fix the underlying problem of the mostly derelict school.
“I think this is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars on a building built in 1950, and so I think we should not take action on this item,” Trustee Sam Saldivar, Jr. said.
The district closed Crockett to students in 2011 and since then it’s functioned as an administrative annex.
An interlocal agreement with the city has also allowed much of the 12.41-acre property to be used as a park for most of the time since kids stopped going to class there.
The problem with the situation is the state of the decrepit old school on the property. Two years ago the district estimated maintaining it costs the district $120,000 annually.
Last week’s meeting, in which trustees called for a workshop on the property, indicated the building may be getting worse.
“We can’t wait on it though, so I think we need to have discussions on this as soon as possible,” Trustee Conrado “Ito” Alvarado said. “Because right now you do have staff that has water in their offices.”
Alvarado said he felt the board may be in a position to reach a consensus on the property’s future. That has not previously been the case.
Broadly speaking, there’s three long term solutions for the property: it can be sold, it can be refurbished and somehow made useful, or the school can be demolished so it’s no longer such a financial encumbrance.
Trustees discussed Crockett at length throughout 2021 — sometimes heatedly — but were unable to agree on any of those options.
The board came close to selling the property to the city of McAllen that summer, but ultimately balked.
Though the district has divested itself of other schools and surplus properties, Crockett — a large tract in the center of McAllen — seemed such a prime piece of realty a majority of the board was reluctant to part with it.
The board was also wary of selling the property to a private investor.
The property did see some development in 2021 in the form of a $231,821.33 improvement project from the city that turned a walking trail and some trees around the old school into a thriving community space with a skate park, dog run, exercise pad and youth soccer fields.
The problem of the rundown school, however, persists.
The second option for the building — renovating it and turning it into something functional — is a hazy prospect at best.
In 2021 the district estimated that bringing the school’s roof, parking lots, HVAC system and other infrastructure up to par would cost $2.5 million. There doesn’t seem to be a pressing need to justify that investment.
Enrollment numbers don’t indicate the district will be needing its classroom space anytime soon, so reintroducing students is unlikely.
The personnel who work in the building don’t particularly need it either. The district says they can be relocated and accommodated elsewhere.
The third option — razing the building and continuing to own the land — never gained significant traction in 2021. At the time, the district estimated that demolishing the school would cost between $300,000 and $500,000.
No simple solution seems to have emerged since the board last weighed what to do with Crockett, although costs associated with a solution will almost invariably be higher.
Trustees did indicate at last week’s meeting that they’re prepared once again to try to reach a consensus on a long term fix.
“I think all of us agree that we just don’t want to Band-Aid it,” Trustee Marco Suarez said. “If we want to invest money in the roof and all that, we should invest money in the entire building and beautify the entire facility.
“And if we want to go a different route, let that be for the board to decide that.”
