Elizabeth Ramos, a former board member of Kingsville Independent School District (ISD), has raised concerns about the condition of the playground at Harrell Elementary and the misuse of funds that were intended for its renovation. Ramos explained the severe disrepair of the playground, citing missing slides, exposed metal, and unsafe materials like nails and plywood.
"It's a safety issue," Ramos said, adding, "children could hurt their feet on the exposed metal."
Ramos, who left the board, revealed that $15,000 was once allocated in the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) account for the playground project. However, after submitting an open records request, she found that by February, only $2,000 remained in the account after most was spent in the past couple of months.
Upon further examination of the documents, it was discovered that the funds had not been spent on the playground, but instead on items such as food from Wingstop and Whataburger, Amazon purchases, Doordash orders and even Cash App payments for balloons and decor.
"There were in $100 increments each time, and food purchases that only fed two or three people at most," Ramos noted.
The issue quickly gained attention from local residents, who reached out to KRIS 6 News to investigate. The situation prompted a heated PTO meeting on Tuesday, where concerned parents and community members demanded answers. One neighbor expressed frustration, stating, "Our babies are out 12,000 dollars. It doesn't matter when it was raised — it was earmarked for the playground."
In response, PTO staff confirmed that the account currently holds $7,000, and they promised to investigate the issue further and discuss it in their next meeting. Meanwhile, Kingsville ISD Superintendent Dr. Cecilia "Cissy" Reynolds-Perez issued statements regarding the issue and the future of the playground:
Booster Clubs and PTO’s are separate entities from the school campuses, however KISD does hold them accountable. We have in recent years, dismantled organizations that do not adhere to expectations and we will continue to do so whenever we discovered factual discrepancies. On Tuesday, April 8th, Harrel Elementary’s PTO will be hosting a PTO meeting at Harrel at 5:30. It’s important that Harrel parents attend so they can be informed about any questions they may have. At this time, an audit of the Harrel PTO is being conducted by KISD. The PTO has presented receipts, etc. No other factual information has been shared by anyone outside of the PTO with our Finance Office. If there is anything that needs to be shared with the KISD Finance office, please reach out to Dr. Pitts at the KISD Central Office Administration Bldg. It’s important for all entities to be held accountable.
In addition to the statement below, in reference to the playground, there are plans occurring with the planning of the playground. The plans are being led by the Harrel Principal, the KISD CFO and a Harrel community volunteer. A meeting was held last week with the superintendent to discuss next steps. Our hope is to build an all inclusive playground that can be used as a model for planning other campus playgrounds. Phases of the plans will be shared at future board meetings. Questions about donations that will be forwarded to the campus from the Harrel PTO can be answered at the Harrel PTO meeting. The PTO is a separate entity and their officers lead those meetings.
As the investigation continues, parents and community members are left waiting for clarity on what happened to the missing funds and when they can expect real progress on the playground's much-needed makeover.
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