A plan for the future of Valley-Edinburg School District

To address growing inefficiency and improve learning spaces for our students, Valley-Edinburg School District will present residents with a once-in-a-generation proposal to close the Crystal building and invest approximately $15.2 million to support long-term safety, accessibility, and high-quality education at the Hoople and Edinburg buildings. The plan will be voted on during a referendum on Tuesday, April 29.

The proposed Titans for Tomorrow investment plan aims to:

The investment plan will be presented to voters as two ballot questions:

The first question will ask voters to approve an increase to our district’s debt limit from 5% to 10% of the true and full value of property within our boundaries. This will ensure we have the ability to sell bonds for the full cost of the proposed plan.

The second will ask voters to approve a building bond referendum for the project’s cost (approximately $15.2 million). Question Two requires at least 60% of all votes to pass.

What would the referendum plan accomplish?

The Crystal Building

The district would sunset operations at the Crystal building and transition all learning to the Hoople and Edinburg buildings.


The Crystal building would not be demolished. Instead, our district will collaborate with city and local leaders to explore alternative uses that could support the community.

The Edinburg Building

Funds would be utilized to improve learning, performance, and athletic spaces at the Edinburg building to better prepare students for the future. These investments would include:

  • New offices for counseling, telehealth therapies, and staff offices/collaboration.

  • A dedicated music room.

  • A fitness area to serve both physical education classes and athletic team training, with ADA compliant locker room/referee room with shower.

  • Adequate cafeteria space.

  • Improved secured entrance to control building access.

  • Locker room/storage upgrades.

  • Deferred maintenance, such as the replacement of old windows and roofing, tuckpointing to repair damaged brick and exterior surfaces, and upgraded electrical service.

  • Add a secure hallway to the gymnasium to improve accessibility while maintaining security for the FACS classroom.

Before

After

Edinburg Addition

The floor plan and renderings shown here are conceptual. If voters approve the referendum, staff and other user groups will have an opportunity to provide input on final design decisions.

The Hoople Building

At the Hoople building, funds will be used to improve learning, performance, and athletic spaces to accommodate a larger student population and prepare the building to serve students for future decades. These investments include:

  •  Expanded cafeteria space.

  • New classrooms to accommodate grades PreK-6 within the building.

  • A 500-seat gymnasium with attached storage, locker rooms, and restrooms. The existing gymnasium will be retained for community use.

  • A secure entrance that can be easily monitored and controlled by adjacent administrative offices.

  • Relocation of the playground to the south side of the building, to create a safer, more secure play area.

  • Additional parking and a redesigned pickup/dropoff loop to reduce congestion and improve pedestrian safety.

  • Deferred maintenance such as roof replacement on the existing building and updated electrical service.

Hoople Addition

The floor plan and rendering shown here are conceptual. If voters approve the referendum, staff and other user groups will have an opportunity to provide input on final design decisions.

Districtwide Impacts

By consolidating into two school buildings, our schools will benefit from better efficiency across all areas, creating significant benefits for students. Some of the notable improvements would include:

  • Shorter bus rides: The average ride time for students is projected to be shorter by moving from three buildings to two.

  • More in-person time with students for teachers: Teachers and administrators will travel less between buildings, giving them more time and energy to work with students.

  • Lower maintenance and operating costs: By addressing our most-needed repairs, our annual operating and maintenance costs will decrease. Even though our maintenance budget won’t change, it will be split between two buildings instead of three.

  • Staff attraction and retention: Improved buildings will create a more attractive work environment that appeals to new teachers and staff, and gives them the space and resources they need to serve our students well for many years to come.

What happens if voters reject the plan?

If the referendum is rejected, our district will continue to operate all three buildings, but will increasingly struggle with the higher costs and inefficiencies of doing so. We will not be able to provide our students with equitable learning spaces and address our most critical building needs.

Our district could consider investments again in the future, but completing the same improvements proposed by this plan would cost significantly more due to rising construction costs. Even if our district pursued a cheaper plan, it would still require a voter-referendum.

The investment plan was developed over the course of two years using extensive community input and professional assessments of our school buildings.