While school was out for the summer, officials at Grapevine-Colleyville and Carroll ISDs were busy working on several bond projects that are part of the districts’ five-year bond issues.

In May 2017, CISD voters approved a $208 million bond that focuses on alleviating capacity issues as well as many upgrades and maintenance projects throughout the district.

Voters in GCISD approved a $249 million bond package in May 2016—the largest bond package in the district’s history.

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD

GCISD officials said contractors are making progress on several large bond projects in GCISD. Those projects include additions and renovations at three GCISD schools—Heritage Middle School, Grapevine Middle School and Timberline Elementary School—as well as construction of the two new multipurpose activity centers and the rebuilding of Cannon Elementary.

Senior Construction Program Manager Chris Upton said the district is also doing some work at Mustang-Panther Stadium. Bond money and tax increment financing district money is being used to fund renovations and upgrades at the stadium.

“We are working on the visitors side right now,” he said. “We are patching and repairing some concrete. On the home side they are going to start working on site utilities, and then they will start doing work on the new concession stands.”

Upton said next summer the new press box will be installed as well as a lot of new home seating. By fall 2018 the renovations and upgrades are expected to be complete.

One of the most talked-about projects in the GCISD bond package is the rebuilding of Cannon Elementary, which is a science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, school.

The $33.6 million project includes a new campus to be built on the existing site. The new campus will be larger than the current campus and will include a second story.

Chief Operations Officer Paula Barbaroux said with the elementary school being a STEM school, it has to be rebuilt larger for the unique spaces and programs it will contain.

“It’s not going to be a lot bigger because of number of students, although it will be able to house more students—not a ton more—but it’s because it requires some unique spaces that you wouldn’t have at a campus that doesn’t have a STEM program like a robotics lab,” she said. “We are also going to have an amphitheater.”

Carroll ISD

Although too soon for any work to have started on the district’s larger projects, CISD Program Manager John Haugen said the district spent about $700,000 this summer doing miscellaneous infrastructure work, such as replacing air conditioning units and plumbing and mechanical work as well as some technology upgrades.

“Some of [the work] was critical that we get done this summer, and some of it was beneficial from a financial standpoint because some of the work we did this summer helps create better efficiencies on the operating budget. So the sooner we do it the better.”

In August the board of trustees approved several consultants that will begin to assist with some of the larger projects.

Some of those consultants included Crux Technology Solutions, which will help with the technology projects, and LPA Inc., which will be responsible for the renovations and upgrades at the Carroll Senior High School baseball/softball complex.

Haugen said the district is in the process of hiring architectural firms and design firms so they can move forward on the portion of bond projects that pertain to capacity issues.

The bond includes adding classrooms at every elementary school in the district. Except for Walnut Grove, every elementary school in CISD is projected to be over capacity in the next five years, according to a demographic report commissioned by the district.

Currently, Johnson Elementary School and Old Union Elementary School are over capacity.

Haugen said because of the immediate capacity needs, the district will focus on the classroom addition projects at Johnson, Carroll and Old Union elementary schools first.

Old Union will get eight additional classrooms and Johnson and Carroll will get six.

Additionally, the district is focusing on getting the ball rolling on a new $24 million music hall that will feature a 700-seat performing arts auditorium and include band halls, choir halls, classroom spaces, offices and practice rooms.

He said once the band and choir programs from CSHS and Carroll High School move into the facility, the vacant spaces at the high schools will be repurposed for new uses, which will include Science, Technology, Engineering and Math labs as well as journalism and production studios.

What’s next?

By fall 2020, all CISD bond projects should be complete and by 2021 all of GCISD’s projects should be complete.

Haugen said when CISD’s projects are complete, the district has plans to call another bond election.

GCISD officials said the district has no plans to call for an additional bond.