MARFA — At a regular Marfa Independent School Board meeting Monday night, Superintendent Stephen McCanless made the surprising announcement that he and Presidio ISD Superintendent Carmen Rubner have come to an agreement regarding the decades-long conundrum of matriculating Redford students. 

Trustees Paul Salgado, Jonathan Lockett, Jay Foster and Board President Teresa Nunez were present. 

As last reported in The Big Bend Sentinel in October 2024, children who live in the small town of Redford along the U.S.-Mexico border are zoned to attend Marfa ISD, even though they are much closer to Presidio schools. In 1996, The New York Times wrote of a similar issue in Brewster County when the two-hour bus route from Terlingua to Alpine finally ended for Terlingua high school students who regularly spent 12 hours a day or more away from home. 

Much like the Terlingua students, Redford students would spend 1.5 hours each way to get to Marfa and back home again; instead, Marfa ISD has for decades paid Presidio ISD to educate those students. The payments included a tuition fee and transportation and insurance costs. Presidio receives the full average daily attendance (ADA) allotment for those students, which determines how much funding a district receives from the state. 

In the past, this agreement has often stumped board members, leading to lengthy discussions about what to do about the problem, but no solution was ever reached, and year after year the same MOU signed and money paid to Presidio. 

On Monday night, McCanless announced to the board that he had worked with Rubner to resolve the longstanding issue without the hassle of redrawing district lines in the Texas Legislature, a solution presented in years past. 

McCanless, who was hired as superintendent in August, said after looking closely at “every penny” going out the door of the district, he did some research on the subject and called Rubner to discuss it. 

“[Ms. Rubner] and I came to a mutual agreement: Marfa ISD will no longer be paying any tuition to Presidio ISD,” McCanless told the board. “All we are going to pay them is transportation,  because that’s fair — they are transporting our students — and they do get the full state ADA … and that was what my issue was. If you are getting the full ADA per child, please explain to me why I’m still paying you tuition. Something has to give.” 

For comparison, McCanless said that in the 2024-25 school year, Marfa ISD paid $29,782 for tuition, and $12,768 for transportation for a total of $42,550. The number of Redford students since has fallen to just three this year, but Marfa still paid $15,675 in tuition and $13,446 in transportation for a total of nearly $30,000 to Presidio ISD for the 2025-26 school year. (As an FYI, he added that in the 2016-2017 school year, Marfa paid Presidio ISD a total of $81,554 for tuition and transport, while Presidio also received the full ADA funds.)

Transportation costs remain relatively constant, according to McCanless and will just include the operation of one bus and fuel. 

Reached afterward for comment, McCanless iterated it was a mutual agreement made in the best interest of the students. The new MOU has already been approved by the Presidio Independent School Board and will be presented to Marfa’s board next month. 

“I’m very grateful to Presidio because they bus [our students] and educate them,” he said.

The Marfa ISD School Board is still seeking applicants to fill two vacant vacancies on the board left by Rene Gonzales and Phillip Boyd. Letters of interest may be addressed to Board President Nunez and delivered to the Marfa ISD administrative office. 

Qualifications to be a board member: To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, the office of board member, a person must:

1. Be a United States citizen.

2. Be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to be filled in at the election or on the date of appointment, as applicable.

3. Have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be: Totally mentally incapacitated and the person’s mental capacity has not subsequently been completely restored by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction; or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote and person’s guardianship has not been modified to include the right to vote or the person’s mental capacity has not been completely restored by a subsequent final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction.

4. Have not been finally convicted of a felony for which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities. Atty. Gen. Op. LO 96-114 (1996).

5. Be a resident of Texas and the district for the period of time described at CANDIDATE’S RESIDENCY TERM (This is a resident of the state of Texas for the past 12 months, a resident of the Marfa ISD six months).

6. A qualified voter