IMPERIAL, Texas — We saw several school bonds pass earlier this month, continuing a recent trend in West Texas. Buena Vista ISD passed a $60 million school bond in May of 2022, and on Wednesday they officially broke ground on construction for a new school building.
It was a very special moment for the school district with several community members joining to see. As hardhats were worn and shovels of dirt were ceremoniously tossed, this moment in time is about more than just a new building.
A generational groundbreaking that will impact the future.
“It’s monumental," BVISD Superintendent Mason Kyle said. "This community hasn’t built anything new facility-wise in 40 years. It’s been time for our students and our community to get the newest and the best.”
It will also touch the past.
“It’s very exciting because we definitely need some new facilities, but it’s also kind of nostalgic too because there [are] so many memories," said Kenna Ivey, a part-time teacher and lifelong Fightin' Longhorn. "Like I say…the town has revolved around this school forever, and so there are a lot of memories here and it will be sad when the old building goes down.”
Ivey has spent her whole life in the BVISD community, and her families’ impact is also generational.
“My father was on the school board when one of the bonds was passed to add onto this school, then my stepfather was on the bond when some more was added onto the school, then my husband was on the board for several years and now my son’s on the board, so it’s really special and important," Ivey said.
Her son helped to pass the school bond for BVISD.
Kyle says the students get to be part of this journey.
“When we were designing it, I wanted our kids to get the best part of it, so they’re getting the best and the first," Kyle said. "So, what is going on to our east is the actual – where the new building is going to be. Like I said, 75,000 square feet of new educational facility for our kiddos. And then once we finish that, then we’re going to come back this way and do some renovations for new admin offices and some CTE classrooms as well.”
Imperial and BVISD go hand-in-hand.
“It’s everything in the town, you know," Ivey said.
This transition will keep it that way for generations to come.
“We’re going to invite community to come through, walk the halls one more time," Kyle said. "Like I said, we’re going to try to take as much from it as we can to incorporate it into the new, but that’s what all of this is about – it’s about honoring our past, inspiring the present, empowering our future.”
Kyle mentioned that Ivey was helpful in the bond process as well, highlighted by the new school that they hope to have finished in 2025. Adding teacher housing and other minor projects are also getting started as the community in Imperial embraces the upgrades coming to Buena Vista ISD.