The public was offered its first look at Pflugerville ISD's next elementary school at the Jan. 18 board of trustees meeting.
Representatives of Austin-based architecture firm SHW Group presented renderings and floor plans of the district's 20th elementary school, which is expected to open in time for the 2014–15 school year.
"The budget we established in 2007—as part of the 2007 bond package—is right at $19 million, and we will be coming right in under that," said Bill Clayton, PISD executive director of facilities and construction.
Clayton said the construction of the new school, which is scheduled to begin in June, will utilize energy-efficient technology in order to reduce the building's cost of operation. The school will also be equipped for solar panels, although the district has not yet decided if or when they will be purchased, he said.
"The most efficient school we have is Ruth Barron [Elementary School]," Clayton said. "This building will be bigger, and we anticipate it will use half the electricity of Ruth Barron."
The new school, which has not yet been named, will be located at the northern edge of the Pflugerville extraterritorial jurisdiction near the intersection of Gattis School Road and Priem Lane. The two-story school is expected to encompass 93,000 square feet and will have a capacity of 850 K–5 students, Clayton said.
Students are expected to be drawn from within the current Caldwell, Highland Park and Murchison elementary schools' boundaries when the new school opens.