The board of trustees for Dripping Springs ISD heard reports on a
feasibility study and possible schematic designs for the district's future fifth elementary school at their Sept. 16 agenda review meeting and workshop. The school will be built on a 155-acre parcel of land near the intersection of Darden Hill and Sawyer Ranch roads.
Presenting options
Doug Koehne, an architect from Corgan, the firm leading design for the new school, presented four distinct schematic visions for the site, with the last design including two slightly different layout options. The designs included not just an elementary school, but designs for a potential middle school and high school as well.
Specific inventory details from Koehne’s report include:
- A 104,000-plus-square-foot elementary school with parking for 200-plus
- A 140,000-plus-square-foot middle school with parking for at least 250
- A 350,000-plus-square-foot high school with parking for 1500
Some of the designs also included space for a bus transportation facility with a capacity of 80-100.
According to Koehne, the designs take into account feedback from public input meetings hosted by the district Aug. 27 and 28 as well as feedback garnered through online questionnaires circulated by DSISD. The plans drawn up by Corgan do not show specific or finalized features for the facilities; rather, they show the various placement options for potential facilities that might be built there, according to a
statement from the district.
Committee in the works
Trustees also discussed the potential structure of a planning committee for the future elementary school.
According to district documents, the committee would be composed of various educators and community members, including an elementary principal and assistant principal; elementary teachers; parents of elementary students; the director of facilities; the assistant superintendents for both finance and operations and learning and innovation; and at least one owner of property that neighbors the school site.
This committee has yet to be assembled, but meetings have been set for Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Oct. 30 and Nov. 13.
