The MISD board of trustees approved a request for qualifications for architectural services for the elementary school at its Sept. 22 meeting.
Current demographic projections indicate the district will need a new elementary school at the start of the fall 2023 school year, according to district documents. The 2016 bond election included $700,000 for the design and preparation of construction documents for the new school, per district documents.
"In our last projection, it looks like our schools in the north are becoming over capacity due to growth," MISD Chief Operations Officer Greg Suttle said at the meeting.
It has been 10 years since MISD built an elementary school, Suttle said.
The next step in the preliminary timeline would occur in December or January when the board would approve the architectural firm for the school, he said. Construction could start in September 2021, and the school would open for classes in August 2023, Suttle said.
To achieve the fall 2023 opening, Suttle said conditions such as the demographer projecting growth correctly, COVID-19 no longer affecting in-person classes and the passing of a potential bond next May would have to play out.
If there is a delay, Suttle said the school could open in fall 2024 as a "worst case scenario."
"The only way to be ready for fall 2023 is if we start now," he said.
