Posted 2:30 am Thursday, December 31, 2009
TISD Bond: Next Phase Of Plan Under Construction
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
As construction progresses for Tyler ISD's "Phase 2" schools, plans are already in the works for the renovation of two other elementary schools using savings from current and prior bond funds.
In November, TISD trustees approved using excess funds from the 2004 and 2008 bond programs to proceed with designs, renovations and additions for Birdwell and Owens elementary schools, marking a continuation of the district's facilities improvement plan.
The school board in December awarded architectural contracts to Eubanks-Harris-Roberts-Craig Architects for the renovation work.
The district expects to save at least $20 million from the current bond program that it plans to use for the renovation work at Birdwell and Owens.
The savings are due in large part to the lack of inflation growth, which had been projected to be at 1 percent per month, the superintendent has said. The district also has about $3 million in savings from the 2004 bond.
As part of the district's facilities master plan, it is addressing needs at elementary schools first.
The district hopes to go to bids on construction work in the spring and begin work when school ends, finishing by the beginning of the school year in 2011.
Looking ahead to a "Phase 3," TISD Board President Ron Vickery said the district and board plan to ask voters in the "very near future" to complete the promise to address elementary schools and then consider proposals on the secondary campuses.
PHASE 3
TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said it's the district's intention to complete the remaining work on the existing elementary schools.
"We still have two left -- Rice and Dixie -- that we need to address their needs in the future," he said. "But we desperately need to move on into our secondary campuses.
"We have some mighty challenges in the secondary schools, and I think the momentum that we have, even in the tight financial times that we're in, is very important for us to carry forth."
The superintendent said he expects that in the "near future" the district will develop a plan for the next phase.
"This community originally divided this up into four phases," he said. "I don't know if it's going to be four or five or three or how many it's going to be. I do know that now's not the time for us to back off.
"We've seen the improvement that the buildings can make academically. We've seen the improved pride that the community and the kids have taken in our schools and our staff, and we don't want to let that go now. We want to keep moving forward."
He said he can't identify what those next projects will be "until we've had more community discussion."
The district's recent discussions about T-STEM (Texas-Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academies and Career and Technology high schools will likely play a role as plans are made for the future, he said.
"As we look into the next decade, we have to really look at not just the facility itself but the type of programming that you're providing and how that translates into facilities. That's where we are now," Reid said.
The district will likely bring forward a "Phase 3" plan in the next 12 to 18 months, he said.
What's happened in this decade is sure to impact the next, Reid said.
"The decisions that were made during this decade will change the face of the next decade because our kids are going to have some different kind of opportunities than they have in the past," he said.
