Several parents are upset, feeling as though they were misled by the district after voters approved a $14.3 million bond in 2005, which led to the building of the new high school and several other projects.
“The ag-science barn seemed like it was supposed to be one of their projects,” said Mike Duque, who has a daughter attending the high school. “It seemed like it was always in the plans until recently when they decided to approve the bus barn.”
Jarrell superintendent Jamie Mattison said Thursday the district does not have enough money left to construct a new ag-science barn after school board members decided to OK building a bus barn. Ms. Mattison said the district had plans to build an ag-science barn, but had to make a decision between other projects, which left them strapped for money.
“School board members had some very difficult decisions to make,” Ms. Mattison said. “As a district, we are very much in favor of an ag-science facility - but the board felt as though the bus barn was something that had to be done as well.”
While officials were studying the costs of both projects, the prices jumped because of current construction conditions, she said.
“We were forced to make a decision between one (project) or the other,” Ms. Mattison said.
The district is estimating a cost of $650,000 to build the bus barn, and approved its funding during this month’s board meeting. According to several parents who attended the meeting, board members said they wanted a more secure area to house buses after fuel was stolen from them.
Before a decision was made, several parents decided to start a grassroots campaign to study how much an ag-science building would cost. Steve Johns, president of the Jarrell FFA boosters club, said estimates came down to $107,000 for the construction of the barn with a local contractor, which was presented to board members.
Johns said the estimate didn’t include utility or groundwork, which the parents believed could be done on a volunteer basis. Johns said the school board decided to contact a contractor out of Georgetown, who estimated costs of more than $300,000 for a barn similar to the one parents presented to board members.
If it were constructed, the barn would be used to house farm animals, including pigs. Duque said his daughter Lauren, 14, a freshman at JHS, has shown interest in veterinary science, and could benefit from having more hands-on experience with animals.
“We live in an area where agriculture is important. The children here should have proper resources available to them to help study and learn,” Duque said.
Jarrell ag-science teacher David Bryson, who has been with the district for four years, said he was disappointed by the district’s decision not to build the barn. Currently, Bryson houses eight pigs students exhibit in competitions in his backyard.
“I was disappointed by the decision,” Bryson said. “I don’t want students losing opportunities to learn.
“I just hope that someday, people begin to see the importance of ag-science, and the importance of hands-on experiences in dealing with animals,” Bryson said. “There are things they can’t learn in the classroom that I could show them if we had a place to house animals - I could show them how to give vaccinations, and how to feed (the animals).”
Each year, the FFA gives away more than $1 million in scholarships to students who work with animals and participate in shows and competitions, he said.
“These are opportunities kids might not have after high school,” Bryson said.
Johns said the parents are fully aware the district is limited with its money.
“We understand that they have a fixed amount of money to work with,” he said. “We just feel as though they didn’t make much of an effort to study or use every resource they had available before they made a decision - they didn’t come up with any alternatives. They did nothing.”
Johns said parents involved in the process will continue to meet in the future and discuss their options.
Ms. Mattison said there is a possibility the barn could be built in the future if any money is left from current projects, but said the district would have a hard time coming up with additional funding in the future without a bond election.
Jarrell High School currently has an ag-science shop, which houses farming materials, machines and devices, she said.
