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Board approves purchase of about 110 acres in Ellis County using Proposition A funds; one member abstains
Summary
Trustees approved consent-agenda item FF to buy roughly 110 acres in Ellis County for about $3.85 million, authorizing the board president to execute documents. A board member disclosed a business relationship with the contract's title company and abstained; staff said Proposition A bond funds and investment earnings would fund the purchase.
The Waxahachie ISD board approved consent-agenda item FF, which authorizes the district to purchase approximately 110 acres in Ellis County as a potential site for educational facilities at a purchase price of $3.85 million and empowers the board president to execute closing documents.
When a trustee asked where funds for the purchase would come from, district staff member Mr. Calden explained that Proposition A from the May 2023 bond included $5 million set aside for the purchase of future school sites and that the district would use that $5 million plus investment earnings credited to Proposition A to acquire the two parcels. In his explanation, Mr. Calden said: "So we would be using that original $5 million of Proposition A along with some investment earnings that Proposition A has also uh earned to purchase those two lands."
Before the FF vote, a board member addressed the chair and said they have a business relationship with the title company listed in the contract and therefore would abstain from discussion and voting on FF; the speaker did not state their name on the record in the transcript. The meeting record shows the abstention was noted and the board proceeded.
The consent agenda covering items A through E was approved separately (motion by Mr. Timberman; second by Mr. McCutchen). Agenda item FF (the land purchase) was moved by Mr. Cooper and seconded by Miss Creel and was announced as carried after the vote; the transcript does not include a clear roll-call tally in text and does not attach vote names to a numeric count in the meeting record.
The board then moved to adjourn.
Additional details such as the precise parcel ID (beyond Ellis County) and any post-closing conditions or contingencies were not specified in the transcript; the contract's title company is named in the contract but the board member who disclosed the business relationship did not identify themselves by name on the record.
