H-E-B and its founding family, the Butt family, have committed $10 million to the Uvalde school district to help it build a new campus to replace Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two teachers died last month in the state’s deadliest school shooting.
This and other donations can be made to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Moving Forward Foundation, a nonprofit established to raise money for the new elementary school and assist with the school district’s ongoing financial needs, according to a press release.
“It’ll definitely be part of the healing process,” Hal Harrell, Uvalde CISD superintendent, told the Texas Tribune of the donation.
Earlier this month, Harrell said students and staff would not return to the Robb Elementary campus. Built in the 1960s, Robb Elementary served about 540 students in grades 2-4. The roughly 550 students who would have attended Robb in the fall will attend either Flores or Dalton elementary schools, the Texas Tribune reported.
A timeline has not been established for when the Robb campus will be demolished.
The location and design of the new school also have not been determined. The new elementary campus will have “state-of-the-art safety and security measures,” infrastructure that supports new technology and enhanced educational offerings, the press release states. Uvalde CISD plans to work closely with the community, donors and other stakeholders to garner feedback and ideas for the project.
“Our first store in Uvalde opened in 1959, and Uvalde people are our people,” said Charles Butt, H-E-B’s chairman, in a prepared statement. “As we continue to mourn tremendous loss, I join with my family and H-E-B in working to ensure the Uvalde community can move forward from this tragic event. Our children are this country’s future, and our schools should be a safe place where children can thrive and envision new possibilities.”
Uvalde CISD will work with Huckabee, an architectural firm based in Fort Worth that specializes in school design, and San Antonio-based construction company Joeris, both of which will donate their services to this project.
“Our kids are our future, and the best foot forward is a great education and I truly believe that this new building will go a long way in manifesting that for our students here in Uvalde,” Harrell told the Texas Tribune.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly state that H-E-B and the Butt family, not the Charles Butt Foundation, committed to the donation.
H-E-B is a financial supporter of the San Antonio Report. For a full list of business members and supporting foundations, click here.
