PSJA ISD questions

Before Monday night’s PSJA ISD School Board meeting, Board President “Rick” Pedraza sent out a flaming blast across social media aimed at his two fellow trustees Cynthia Gutierrez and Carlos Villegas, without naming them.

“I would like to take this opportunity to address the recent misinformation that has been circulating on social media by a couple of disgruntled school board members regarding a new baseball stadium facility that has been in the planning process since before I was on the board, or the current (superintendent) was employed.”

Actually, there is no written record that a new baseball stadium for the PSJA Bears was ever officially put up for planning purposes. Over the years, some school board members have pushed for one, fought for one, but to no avail. Until now.

The issue came up two weeks ago. Instead of the new baseball stadium being discussed in open session by the entire school board, it was lumped into an agenda item called “Consent Agenda,” which usually includes the minor, trivial, normal, no-big-deal stuff that really requires no real discussion.

In the case of a new baseball stadium, however, the cost of designing and building one is well in excess of several million dollars. “That’s hardly trivial” is the claim being made by Gutierrez and Villegas, both of whom say they had no idea the district was even really considering a new baseball stadium for PSJA High (San Juan) until it showed up at the board meeting two weeks ago unannounced.

The board is currently split 5-2. Gutierrez and Villegas claim that they are intentionally being kept out of the loop by both the superintendent, Jorge Arredondo, and the board majority comprised of Jesse and Jorge Zambrano, Jesse Vela, Rick Pedraza, and Jorge Palacios.

The board majority’s response to that is, well, nothing, since they can’t be reached for comment.

In his recent social media blast against Gutierrez and Villegas, School Board President Pedraza also wrote, “The truth is that we are in the process of selecting an architectural firm to design it (the new PSJA Bears baseball stadium). We previously voted to allow Dr. Arredondo (superintendent) to go out and request qualifications to choose an architectural firm to design the facility. Once we decide on an architectural firm, they will begin designing proposed options and we will host an open house so our PSJA community can see these options and provide input.”

Actually, what the board approved at the last board meeting two weeks ago reads like this: to “authorize the superintendent to negotiate and execute a contract with an architect and/or engineer for the design of (a new Bears baseball stadium).”

If that wording sticks, the board has basically given Arredondo carte blanche to choose the architect and/or engineer for the design work, based on what criteria isn’t clear, and to actually then execute the said contract without any more board input and/or approval.

In fact, at this Monday night’s meeting, during the discussion of the district’s Athletic Facilities Improvement Project, which opened up the discussion to include the new PSJA Bears baseball stadium, Villegas sounded exasperated when he directed his comments at the five-member majority (four were actually in attendance Monday since Jorge Zambrano was absent):

“The baseball stadium we already have with C.V. Cain is state of the art. So why do we need a new baseball stadium?”

Actually, Villegas asked the question more than once. There were no answers.

School attorney Ben Castillo told Villegas that since this was only the planning process, the board would have time later down the road to review it. Maybe open up the idea to public comment.

Villegas’s point all along, as well as Gutierrez’s, has been — why doesn’t the board first discuss the need for a new baseball stadium for the Bears before spending the money to go out and design one?

The current plan is, turn C.V. Cain baseball stadium into a venue for teams from the district’s middle schools. Then build a new one next to where the band currently practices, relatively adjacent to the high school, and make that the Bears’ new baseball stadium.

Band People Unhappy

Meanwhile, some PSJA Bear band folk are upset, and it seems that some students have started an online petition. Because any talk about the new baseball stadium has been shielded from public ears, word has gotten around, right or wrong, that the parking lot near the high school where the marching band practices during football season will be taken away from them because the new baseball stadium is going to soak up the space.

The online petition, attempting to stop that from ever happening, currently contains the names of more than 3,500 people. With a school board election coming due this November, that number should garner some significance among the players. The three Pharr seats are up for grabs, currently filled with incumbents expected to run for re-election: Villegas, Palacios, and Pedraza. If Villegas can find two good slate mates and can win all three seats, then the board majority will be flipped 4-3 with Gutierrez already on board with Villegas.

Apparently, based on his social media post, Pedraza thinks that Villegas and Gutierrez have something to do with the petition, but as both pointed out Monday, they had nothing to do with its origins. Both Gutierrez and Villegas say they think that a student started it, but they can understand why people are upset.

In his social media message, Board President Pedraza urged everyone to either attend Monday night’s meeting in person or watch it online.

“... to be a witness to what really is happening at PSJA as we discuss these items and more benefiting our students and community.”

Before the meeting, Villegas said, great, so now we can ask some questions.

When he asked Monday night, though, why does PSJA need a new baseball stadium when the Bears’ current one, C.V. Cain, is state of the art, not a sound could be heard. Pedraza wasn’t even looking his way.

Within the last 10 years, as mentioned during Monday night’s board meeting, approximately $700,000 to $800,000 has already been spent on Cain stadium/ field improvements (artificial turf now covers the entire field), and the bleachers and concession areas have been overhauled. The backstop is new.

Today, if you stop by and look at the facility, it’s hard to believe that a better one could be built, said Villegas. For high school baseball, Cain looks both functional and more than a little pleasing in the aesthetic sense, he said.

Point of fact: the place is drop-dead gorgeous if you look at it in person.

More school-related drama from Monday night’s meeting — Trustee Gutierrez was speaking when Pedraza interrupted her in mid-sentence.

Excuse me, she said, but I am speaking.

Pedraza informed her that since he was board president, he had the right to interrupt her, and when she becomes board president, she can do the same.

Gutierrez ignored him and kept on speaking since she had the floor.