Fort Bend ISD offers 10 acres plus $1 million for the upkeep of the Sugar Land # 95 cemetery

Fort Bend ISD will convey the cemetery area and an additional 10 acres for a memorial park in the Telfair subdivision of Sugar Land as a part of the agreement reached between the school district and Fort Bend County regarding the maintenance of the unmarked cemetery at the school site.



FBISD will also pay the county $1 million that will go toward future costs associated with reinterment and memorialization of what she come to be known as Sugar Land #95.



On Tuesday, County Commissioners approved the principle terms of an Interlocal Agreement that will allow the remains of the 95 individuals discovered during FBISD’s construction of the James Reese Career and Technical Center to find a final resting place in a county-owned cemetery.



With agreement on the principal terms, the parties will now work out final details, including resolution of the existing court action.



“We are thankful and appreciative of the action taken by county leaders this week,” said FBISD Board President Jason Burdine.



“With this action, the Board takes another step in fulfilling its commitment to honor and preserve these individuals, not just as 95 unmarked graves, but as 95 human beings whose stories deserve to be told. We have recognized the importance of this historical discovery, while also delivering an educational facility that will benefit the students of Fort Bend and our community.”



In another related development, the Texas Historical Commission, after receiving guidance from the Texas Attorney General, recognized its authority to permit extraction of genetic material from the remains of the 95 individuals for the purposes of future DNA testing.



Materials necessary for DNA analysis have been collected and will be curated at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas.



Archaeologists believe that the remains are those of convicts who were leased by the State to provide convict labor to a local plantation.



“We are looking forward to the next steps in this discovery, with hope that we will one day know more about who these individuals were,” said Burdine.



Fort Bend ISD’s James Reese Career and Technical Center will open in August of 2019.







