By Joy E. Cressler/Staff Writer
BURLESON — District officials formed the committee and gave it a task — to determine what the needs of Burleson ISD are for the next five years in relation to an expected bond election in November.
At the July 10 board of trustees meeting, former Mayor Byron Black, the chairman over the entire Facilities Advisory Committee composed of dozens of community members, presented a nine-part recommendation meant to set the district’s building program at least for the next few years.
Black offered a prioritized list of school construction projects and upgrades the committee believes necessary, sooner or later, in response to a growing student population.
The initiatives are estimated at almost $254 million, an amount even Superintendent Mark Jackson said surprised him a little.
“But this is what the committee said is needed,” Jackson said. “Ultimately, this is what we need to do.”
Jackson said voters can approve any amount they want, but the board can only afford to approve a certain amount at a time, as construction warrants. However, he said it is possible to have approved bonds that are sold and unsold.
So far, the board has only tested the waters to see if the taxpayers would be amenable to approving as much as $100 million in a bond sale. A recent telephone survey of the district’s taxpayers, conducted by BISD’s demographer, showed voters would not oppose that amount, believing it to be district officials’ responsibility to stay ahead of growth by providing BISD students the full range of necessities for a quality education.
“We’re out of space,” Jackson said. “We’ve used up every seat and have portable classrooms stacked around most of our schools now. And it’s only going to get worse as we face an increase in new students coming into our district.”
Jackson said he believes there’s precious little time between now and when the district needs those new buildings, considering a year is spent in the planning of a school and another 18 months in construction.
“There are 7,000 lots platted in our district, ready to be built upon,” Jackson said. “We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us how soon they will be built.”
The board of trustees first met in April to decide what it wanted the Facilities Advisory Committee to do, the “charge” as they called it.
Members of the committee met for the first time in May, dividing into three subcommittees to better focus on specific areas of the district — the need for additional elementary and high schools, plus a group dedicated to renovating and repurposing existing facilities.
Members toured the district’s facilities to take an inventory of what needs the district has, building by building. From that, subcommittee members met often during the next two months to discuss the district’s options and to consolidate their findings into one recommendation:
Priority 1
Safety renovations
Make improvements at every campus to include perimeter control, internal surveillance, internal security and access control — $3.3 million.
Priority 2
New schools
Build four new elementary schools plus pay for the site acquisition for a fifth school — $79.5 million.
Priority 3
Second high school
Construct a second high school and pay for the land on which to build it — $120 million.
Priority 4
Technology and
communication systems
Replace computers, network hardware, data systems hardware, printers, telephones, video presentation for classrooms — $8.8 million.
Priority 5
Facility retrofits
Complete all facility retrofits, including a new roof at Hughes Middle School, and make several roof repairs on other schools, add a new HVAC system at Kerr Middle School and replace several others around the district, repair needed parking lots, take care of asbestos abatement, upgrade the energy management system, retrofit multiple door hardware, upgrade high school baseball and softball bleachers, plus Hughes and Kerr bleachers — $6.7 million.
Priority 6
Nola Dunn replacement
Replace the Academy at Nola Dunn on site, retaining the Niche [original, free-standing administration building] and gymnasium — $22.5 million. Black described the 80-year-old academy as “one point above abandonment.”
Priority 7
Phasing out Frazier
Repurpose and phase out Frazier Elementary as an active elementary campus to instead house Crossroads High School and BISD Day Care Center — $4.3 million.
Priority 8
Future school sites
Purchase third and fourth high school sites, one elementary site and one middle school site — $9 million.
Priority 9
Sell building
Investigate selling the administration building, then rebuild or purchase another one at a central site in the district. No cost was estimated for this sell-and-rebuild transaction.
All construction costs for new schools were calculated at $161 per square foot for each facility, adjusted for inflation.
“Certainly the board will want to discuss and process the information in workshop settings between now and the end of August,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he expects the board to call for a bond election before Aug. 29. The election has to be called 70 days in advance of an election and the school board has to vote to call for it.
“We will be meeting just about every Monday, starting July 24,” Jackson said.
Committee members may be involved in the upcoming workshops as the board tries to identify the exact amount it needs to ask the voters for in the November bond election.
“We realize this baby goes in your crib and you’re going to have to burp it,” Black told the board. “We’re looking forward to doing whatever you need us to do to help you get the bond passed.”
Joy E. Cressler can be reached at 817-558-2855, ext. 2329, or jcressler@trcle.com.
