HARLINGEN – The Harlingen school district will purchase $300,000 of band and orchestra equipment during the next year.
Earlier this month, board members extended a contract made last year with several vendors for the purchase of band equipment, said Julio Cavazos, chief financial officer for the district.
The contract, which was extended for one year, allows the district to purchase those instruments from a specific list of vendors.
The district has set aside $200,000 from the general fund to purchase instruments as needed.
Cavazos said the board approved another contract for the purchase of orchestra instruments.
The contract says those purchases also will be made from a specific set of vendors.
An additional $100,000 from the general fund has been set aside to make those purchases as needed.
The district has made several purchases of musical supplies recently. Just last month, the board approved the purchase of music-related electronics equipment for $29,000.
At this month’s board meeting, school board members accepted a bid from Boggus Motor Company to purchase a box truck for $71,970, also from the general fund.
“That’s one of these delivery trucks with a lift to be able to pick up heavy items,” Cavazos said.
“We call it a box truck because that’s what it is. It’s one of those big trucks, sort of like those UPS trucks, those federal trucks.”
The lift is necessary because the trucks are used to lift and transfer equipment to and from different campuses, Cavazos said.
The district hasn’t purchased a new truck in many years and the ones currently in service are beginning to break down.
The new truck which will be purchased in the next two weeks will bring the number of trucks used by the district to three.
The board also addressed a clean-up job for the recently-purchased real estate at Harrison Avenue and Business 77.
The property, which was an old Exxon station, has some gasoline tanks that need to be removed.
The contract for the clean-up operation was awarded to South Texas Pump, Inc., which will be paid $29,940 for the work. That job will be paid for from the general fund.
Cavazos said the district purchased the property several months ago for $220,000.
The district is discussing how it will be used.
“There’s a lot of different thoughts as far as how we can use that property, and that’s a discussion the board is having currently,” he said.
Some have suggested using the property as a parking lot or as office space.
