November updates include animation walkthrough of the new CTE center

During their November workshop, Trustees received a comprehensive look at the planning and design work that has been done on the new Career & Technical Education facility. Representatives from the architecture firm PBK walked the board members through the project’s scope and schedule, and showed them the site plan, floor plan, exterior design concept, and interior design concept. The facility will be the full-time high school for 400 students with an additional 2,000 students taking CTE courses there throughout the day. Fifteen pathways will be housed there: Welding, Oil & Gas, Architecture & Construction, and Culinary Arts are just a few examples. Groundbreaking is on schedule for summer 2025 with the grand opening in January 2027. The planning has included visits to other CTE facilities, input from CTE staff, industry partners, and a community advisory committee that has met seven times. They have poured over design standards, building organization, and budget constraints, always working according to these tenets – Emulate the workplace; Create an environment where collaboration thrives; Engage and welcome community, industry, and business; Inspire innovation and discovery in a flexible and adaptable building. This was a lengthy presentation with a lot of pictures. You can see the presentations slides here https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=659813.

A week later, during the November 19 board meeting, the monthly bond update started with financials. As the District finalizes the location of the new Transportation Center identified and the fact it comes with some facilities already on it, it is anticipated $10 million designated for the Transportation Center can be moved to support the new CTE Center. That is designated with a specific column in the Finance Report presented to the school board. About 10% of bond proceeds have been either spent or are designated through purchase orders for a specific purpose.

The design of the new middle school is complete, the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) is scheduled to be presented to the school board next month and ground-breaking is on track to take place in January.

The design development documents for the CTE facility were presented to the school board at the meeting on November 12, construction documents are in progress and ground-breaking is slated for summer.

The designs for the renovations of the Permian High School Auditorium have been submitted, procurement should begin in January and construction should begin in May.

The timeline for the JROTC Facility at PHS is very similar to the auditorium project. It is in the design development stage and construction is anticipated to start in April.

The Transition Learning Center is in the schematic design phase awaiting approval from the community advisory committee. Surveying/Civil Engineering are being scheduled for the site and if it remains on time, construction could begin in February or March. The TLC committee will meet right after Thanksgiving Break and the board could then receive an update at its December meeting.  

The Ag Farm has seen its schematic design approved and is moving into the design development phase. Surveying is complete.

The replacement of the bleachers in the main gymnasiums of our middle schools should be completed this week. Five of the six schools are done, Ector MS is in progress.

The first set of middle school choir risers is now in place at Bonham MS, Ector MS’s will be completed soon. So far, Fine Arts has ordered 578 instruments, has received 304 of them, and has spent $1.4 million of bond proceeds.

From Technology, surveillance storage is now complete, and campus camera installations are scheduled to begin in December. Walkthroughs have been conducted to prepare for the installation/replacement of PA/Bells/Alarms/Clock systems.

Parkhill has been engaged to provide architectural, engineering, and project oversight for the Priority 1 and Priority 2 renovations/replacements.

Later in the meeting, Trustees received an update on the progress of the Agriculture Farm project approved in Bond 2023. A representative from Parkhill reviewed the advisory committee’s list of ‘must haves and want to haves’ within the project budget. They looked at an overview of the site, the existing structures, and those slated to be demolished and replaced with new buildings. The board looked at a proposed floor plan concept, some examples of other venues, and renderings of the exterior views. The timeline shows design work will carry into the spring with construction scheduled to start in June and take about one year.