La Feria School Board Holds Special Meeting

State of Press Box at Lion Stadium Discussed

by Martha E. Ibarra/LFN

A special meeting of the board of trustees of the La Feria Independent School District was held on Monday, Jan. 22, in the Central Administration Building.

Following the prayer and pledge of allegiance, Quentin Anderson presented to the board an independent auditors report for fiscal year 2016-2017. Anderson, a certified public accountant representing Carr, Riggs & Ingram, an accounting firm, worked alongside district personnel to prepare an annual financial report. Anderson met with Superintendent Cathy Lee Hernandez, members of administration and an auditing committee to review financial statements and make recommendations that resulted as the audit was conducted. After a few minutes of discussion the board approved the auditor’s report.

The board went on to discuss the current press box that can be found at Lion Stadium. The press box has been closed because of safety issues and at this special meeting the board discussed what action to take regarding the future of the press box. “We know we have to do something for our children and the community regarding their safety. When they built [the press box] it wasn’t meant for anybody to go on top. In addition, inside there is a lot of rotten wood and it’s just not safe so we closed it right away,” said Superintendent Hernandez.

Hernandez presented to the board three options that would allow for the repair or replacement of the box. Option one allows for the district to do their own repairs to the box and would cost about $3,747.91.

Option two includes two bids received by the district for new press boxes. The price for bid one is $77,900 and the second is for $98,876. Neither price includes the fee for the removal of the original press box or the installation of the new one. Option three is a 24 year old refurbished press box for $59,395.

After presenting to the board their options, Superintendent Hernandez advised the board that option one was the best choice, “What is it we can afford? Being fiscally responsible, we as an administration believe that our best option is option one. Would we like a new one? You bet we would, but we have to think about the future; we have a lot of other needs.”

After a long, heated discussion, the board finally approved option one- an in house repair of the original press box for $3,474.91.

After emerging from executive session, the meeting was adjourned.