had already received a $1 million ($ when adjusted for inflation) gift. The plans for the library included a reading area with 16,500 books, a technology center with 32 computers, and a courtyard. Jennifer Radcliffe of the McClatchy - Tribune Business News said "The addition would put the River Oaks library -- which already has one of the largest collections in HISD -- head and shoulders above other campuses." Barry Bishop, a director of library information at the Spring Branch Independent School District, said that the expansion of the River Oaks Elementary library "kind of shakes the equity issue" but because schools with poorer pupils have access to federal funds, foundation funds, and grants inaccessible to schools with wealthier student bodies, "If you actually look at the money spent per student, at least from the library perspective, it kind of balances out." A neighborhood activist from Sunnyside, Alice Pradia, argued that HISD did not do enough to bolster libraries of school campuses. River Oaks Elementary has a "nature center", which opened in 1990, which has various plants as well as several insects and smaller animals in it. Demographics As of the 2011–2012 school year, River Oaks Elementary had 717 students. 50% were White, 20% were Asian or Pacific Islander, 16% were Hispanic, 7% were black, and less than 1% were Native American. 8% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch. about 56% of the elementary school-aged students living in the River Oaks Elementary attendance boundary attended River Oaks Elementary, according to HISD estimates. Donald R. McAdams wrote that in 1995, at the time of the political turf battle involving River Oaks Elementary and neighborhood students, River Oaks was a "middle class school." The student mix was 40% White, 30% Black, 28% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. 9% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch. According to HISD standards, all of the students were gifted and talented. McAdams wrote that most of the minority children classified as gifted and talented by HISD came from middle class households. In 1995, the largest group of River Oaks Elementary School parents resided in the City of West University Place and nearby neighborhoods. McAdams wrote that in 1995 White parents liked the demographics because there was a "high-cost, first class education in an almost perfect ethnic mix, and all this with ethnic harmony." McAdams wrote that the demographics made the school attractive to River