Sabine ISD Trustees approve controversial land acquisition

Sabine Independent School District trustees voted 5-1 Friday night to acquisition nearly 45 acres of land located on the southeast corner of Rice Road and FM 1252 at a cost of $15,000 per acre. The total price tag is $630,000.

John Kenna was the only trustee to oppose the acquisition.

The acreage will be paid for out of the fund balance designated for facilities acquisition, according to Mary Russell, district business manager.

"The plan is to build a future elementary school on that property," said James Gray, president of the board of trustees.

The issue is controversial, even more so after residents voted down a $20 million bond in May that was intended to fund the construction of an elementary school, athletic field house and softball field as well as fund renovations.

Though the owner of record is Bill Crouch, he represents six different owners, one of whom is Mickey Smith, former county judge and member of the Community Facilities Advisory Committee that recommended the purchase of the land.

"Bill Crouch is the one we negotiated with," said Stacey Bryce, Sabine ISD superintendent.

An open forum was held at the start of the meeting to allow citizens to voice their concerns. The meeting area was filled to capacity with several citizens left standing due to lack of seating.

Ross Kinney, a resident of Sabine ISD, commented to the board about the vagueness of the terminology in the board's printed agenda. Kinney referenced line 7b of the agenda, where the words "Real Estate" were listed under Closed Session.

"You may find yourselves in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act," Kinney said.

Vickie Raymond, co-chairman of the committee that helped determine the district's needs, spoke next, reminding the board the bond issue had failed, but that the proposal was based on solid research.

Eva Shuler presented the board with a letter after being told she was too late to be placed on the agenda. Her letter reminds the board that, "The 65 percent of the community that opposed the bond proposal were told to come up with a better plan. We have done that." Shuler's letter refers to a proposal submitted by Larry Odom.

Lakesha Stewart, a parent with four children attending Sabine ISD, commented on the tension in the room and asked all present at the meeting to, "come together, and don't forget why we are here. We are here to make the best decisions for our children."

In other business, the board voted unanimously to contract Garland's Indoor Comfort to replace five air conditioning units at a cost of $49,755 and to approve language changes in the district's Leave of Absence policy to match language in current state law. State law now extends the amount of leave time under the Family