FACILITY PLANNING AT CAMERON ISD
BY GEORGE WILLEY, ED.D., STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY - DEPT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
With the vast majority of the property
in the district being related to
agriculture and a per pupil property
value of $177,000, Cameron ISD is
considered ‘property-poor” under
the current school finance system.
Therefore, the district faces significant
economic challenges toward ensuring
that their school facilities meet the
needs of all their students.
In 2011, the district faced the need to
improve four of its athletic facilities
as well perform several costly routine
maintenance projects at all three of
its school buildings. The district’s
football/soccer field required major
repairs to the bleachers as well as
multiple accessibility issues to be
addressed throughout the complex.
The district’s track needed significant
repair, resulting in the district
canceling host duties of an annual
track meet. The district did not have
tennis courts nor a baseball field
and was using facilities provided
by the city for these two University
Interscholastic League (UIL) events.
The facilities provided by the city
were of recreational quality but did
not provide the students with equal
quality facilities as other public
schools in the area. Due to the
availability of the state’s Existing Debt
Allotment (EDA) program and the
potential high yield of the program to
the district based on its low per pupil
wealth, the Board of Trustees called
for a bond election of $5.65 million
in the spring of 2014. Through
strong community support as well
as an understanding of the financial
benefits of the EDA program on the
taxpayers of Cameron, the voters of
the district passed the bond with 63%
approval.
The facilities provided by the city
were of recreational quality but
did not provide the students with
equal quality facilities as other
public schools in the area.
A key component of the 2014 bond
election was a joint use agreement
with the Economic Development
Corporation (EDC) related to the
construction of a baseball field at the
proposed Yards of Cameron. The
proposal called for the district to
construct a baseball field and the
Economic Development Corporation
to construct the restrooms,
concessions, and parking lot at the
complex. The benefit to the district
was the savings of construction and
upkeep of the supporting facilities
while the EDC benefited from use of
the district’s field to host baseball
tournaments as a means to promote
tourism to the city. By working in
partnership with the EDC. Cameron
ISD was able to garnish a greater
level of support for the passage of the
Above is a breakdown & timeline of Cameron ISD’s Capital Plan
14
bond.
With the most expensive facility
needs of the district addressed
through the passage of the bond,
Cameron ISD continues to address
district facility needs through the
ongoing development and editing
of a 36-month facilities pl