Is spending $4M in COVID-relief money on Quinta Mazatlan a wise move?

Is taking $4 million from the millions intended to help fill the learning-loss gap, courtesy of COVID-19, and using the money to expand Quinta Mazatlan a good idea or not? The deal between McAllen ISD and the City of McAllen has already been struck, so the question is somewhat moot, but moving forward, the question of how to spend COVID-related education relief money will surely be revisited.

McAllen ISD made the national news Nov. 7 in “The Hill,” which is a national newspaper and digital media company based in D.C., and is now the largest independent political news site in the U.S., owned by Nexstar Media Group, which is the largest television station owner in the U.S. (197 major affiliate stations across the U.S.)

In terms of major exposure, “The Hill” has grown to become the second most-viewed U.S. political news website and the third-most tweeted U.S. news source. We’re talking “big.”

Meaning, every issue has a lot of eyes on it, and in the Nov. 7 issue, McAllen ISD gets a mention in an opinion piece titled “School districts are wasting COVID relief funds.”

The column, written by Ryan Lanier, highlights what he believes to be examples of said waste. Obviously, McAllen ISD would disagree with that assessment.

The opinion column begins with this lead paragraph:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and lasting impact on tens of millions of students across the nation. According to a July 21, 2021, McKinsey and Company report, students lost on average five months of math and four months of reading, which will lead to lower lifetime income of at least $49,000, and reduced annual economic growth of at least $128 billion.”

That’s been one of the tragedies of this pandemic: the toll it’s taken on America’s educational system in general. Students have suffered, as have parents and teachers.

The politicians response has been, as it typical, to throw money at the problem with few oversights in place. School districts are getting millions; cities are getting millions; counties are getting millions; and states are getting billions.

Question is, with regard to education, how much of that dough is actually helping students and the teachers assigned to teach them along with the paraprofessionals and school staff?

In “The Hill” column, it makes mention of several example of what it describes as waste.

Up in Wisconsin, the Whitewater school board voted to spend 80 percent of its $2 million Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant to help construct synthetic turf fields for football, baseball, and softball.

Why?

Well, because according to the district’s athletic director, he didn’t think district voters would approve a referendum (tax increase) to purchase and install turf fields.

Rather than put the athletic director’s belief to the test, according to The Hill’s column, the school board “decided instead to bill the American people for the projects.”

COVID-relief money: let the good times roll.

The same Hill column then mentions McAllen ISD with this paragraph:

“In South Texas, the McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees allotted $4 million in ESSER relief funds to facilitate the expansion of the city-owned Quinta Mazatlan nature center. Although the district cited the ‘rare opportunity’ provided by ‘an authentic science lab right here in our backyard,’ the proposal received heavy criticism from district parents. One parent, Tory Guerra, rightfully questioned how the sanctuary was related to student recovery. Because the project won’t be completed until 2024, she observed, ‘half the kids won’t even get to reap the benefit’ of the nature center.”

The McAllen ISD board approved the Mazatlan expenditure at an August 2021 board meeting, contingent on certain conditions being met.

At that meeting, former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said he supported the $4 million for Quinta because he thinks it’s one of the best opportunities for kids.

The $4 million will fund the McAllen ISD Discovery Center, which will include a five-acre outdoor park/outdoor classrooms. All told, it’s part of a planned expansion for a larger center for urban ecology, meant to school kids on the importance of, well, ecology.

So, what do you think? Is spending the $4 million for expanding Quinta Mazatlan, an urban wildlife sanctuary/birding center owned by the city, a waste or well worth the money meant to fill the “learning gap” caused by the pandemic?