INGRAM — When flooding struck the Ingram area in July 2025, the campuses of Ingram Elementary School and Tom Moore High School largely escaped damage, and were even used as staging sites for the flood recovery process.
But when heavy rains and flooding struck again this July, the Ingram ISD campuses didn’t get off so easy.
Twelve buildings across the district suffered flooding or water damage during the most recent natural disaster, Ingram ISD Superintendent Justin Turner said. The damage this time didn’t come from the Guadalupe River, but from an overflowing retention pond and heavy rains seeping through the roofs and windows, Turner said.
District employees and volunteers have been working for the past two weeks to make repairs and get the district’s campuses ready for the start of classes, which is scheduled for Aug. 12.
The district is “on target” to make that happen, Turner said, although he said things might “look a little bit different” for returning students.
Damage to ag building, fieldhouse
Among the hardest-hit properties were on the campus of Tom Moore High, which is the district’s lone high school. The school’s agricultural science building and the athletics fieldhouse both were inundated with several inches of water when heavy rains filled a retention pond on high ground behind the buildings, causing a retaining wall to fail, Turner said. That water then rushed into the buildings.
“It’s not from the Guadalupe River that got us; it was water from the top,” Turner said.
The agriculture science building was “ground zero” for damage, Turner said. Expensive equipment like plasma cutters sat in water for days, and could cost the district tens of thousands of dollars to replace, he said. The school’s band hall was also damaged, Turner said.
He said the district is taking steps to address drainage issues on the campus.
“I think it would be poor leadership on my part to make the assumption that we won’t get heavy rain that could be in the 10 to 15, 20 inches of rain cumulatively,” Turner said. “So I need to be proactive and thinking about that.”
Other areas of the high school and of Ingram Elementary suffered water damage from rain seeping in, Turner said.
$2 million repair bill
Turner said he doesn’t have an full assessment for how much it will cost to make repairs to the district’s properties, but estimated $2 million of the damage won’t be covered by insurance.
The Cailloux Foundation, a Kerrville-based nonprofit, donated $180,000 to the district for repairs, Turner said.
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, a Kerrville-based nonprofit, donated $1.25 million to Ingram ISD after last year’s flooding, which devastated the district’s headquarters building. Turner said he has not yet “received any information” from the foundation about a potential donation this time.
Tate DeMasco, athletics director for Ingram ISD and Tom Moore High School’s head football coach, and some of his student-athletes have been taking part in the cleanup efforts. The coach helped clean gravel off the district’s track, while some of his players helped remove soaked flooring from the weight room.
DeMasco said he’s concerned about how the community will bounce back from the flooding, especially families who were hit in both 2025 and 2026.
“Our county needs help, and we don’t have the resources that we had last year,” he said. “I worry about small businesses through here, and I worry about it because those are our people. Those are our kids’ parents.”
DeMasco and his athletes are adjusting to new accommodations for now, lifting weights on the football field and preparing for a new season.
“What an opportunity for us before we even have a practice to put our kids in a situation where they have to adjust on the fly,” DeMasco said. “Makes me feel good about a fourth quarter or a halftime adjustment this year in any of our sports — that our kids will be able to handle it.”
Two weeks after the floods, district employees and volunteers have removed much of the ruined drywall, insulation and flooring from the damaged buildings. Turner said the district is focused on getting things into shape in time for the start of classes in two weeks. Covering the concrete floors can come later, he said, perhaps during Thanksgiving break.
Turner, who was appointed superintendent in January, said he understands how difficult it can be for students and their families who dealt with last year’s flood, which killed 119 people in Kerr County, only to face another disaster just a year later.
“Materials and buildings can be repurchased and built back,” he said. “Human life just cannot.”
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