Eagle Ford Shale school districts offer housing

COASTAL BEND – The Eagle Ford Shale boom has hit rural communities causing a housing and teacher shortage. As additional students pour into the area, there is no place for new staff to live.

Three Rivers ISD recently purchased a piece of land and placed two mobile homes on the property as a short-term solution. 

The school district has budgeted $100,000 to get the project started, according to Kenneth Rohrbach, the superintendent. Long-term, the plan is to build houses or duplexes on the land. Rent will be about $500 or $600 a month.

Property values in the district tripled this year, increasing from $682 million to $1.9 billion. Even with lowering the tax rate next year 4 cents, the district expects an $18 million budget, up from $9.5 million.

Between $6 and $7 million will go back to the state as recapture, a state program requiring wealthier districts to help fund poorer districts, compared to $1 million last year, according to Rohrbach.

The district is in the process of constructing a new high school and has plans for an elementary school. A new animal facility for the agriculture program also is being paid for with cash.

McMullen County ISD — which already has nine houses with rents ranging from $350 to $700 — approved another four houses this year.

The district plans to sell $9.5 million in bonds this year to pay for the new housing, construction of a new agriculture facility, a new music and art building and the purchase of new school buses.