Louise ISD board will consider letting community build field
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

The Louise school board will decide Monday night whether to oblige residents who have come forward with offers of materials, equipment and labor to build the district a softball field.

Louise ISD trustees decided to emphasize academics as they whittled their budget down almost $300,000 last week after voters rejected a higher amount in a tax rollback election earlier this month.

The district had been using a budget set at a lower rate since the fiscal year began Sept. 1. It had initially intended to use some of the additional funding to develop a softball field on 12.6 acres it purchased earlier in the year, a plan set aside once the rollback election mandated less revenue.

But the tight-knit Louise community is willing to get started on building the field, even if it means donated labor and materials.

"I have had community folks volunteer to do some of the ground work," Superintendent Andy Peters said. "We have had price quotes of $125,000 to $200,000 for professionals to do the work. However, the current baseball field was built with community efforts and they didn't spend a lot of district funds."

Peters said whether the district takes the donors up on their offer is entirely up to LISD trustees.

"I'm going to give the board an opportunity to vote up or down if they want to let some volunteers do some ground work," he said.

"I have to remind everyone that it is not my decision - it is the board's and the community's decision. A number of community people have been asking, so we will try one more time. If the board doesn't take any action, then I will not bring it back to the table."

The board voted in early 2006 to add a softball program for girls, to ensure girls the same number of opportunities as boys to participate in sports, which is required by federal law commonly called Title IX.

Later that year, the board bought the acreage adjacent to the current campus to build a softball field and for other growth.

The softball program began during the last school year, and the team played its home games in El Campo.

"I am concerned, as the superintendent, that we offer our girls the sport as a requirement of Title IX," Peters said.

"We did have 25 girls play ball last year and we are planning on playing this year - with or without a field."