PBK Architects presented the designs to the board at the meeting. The board approved these designs unanimously, although Trustee Ralph Hobratschk was absent from the meeting.
“[The designs] met our criteria of additional classrooms at each campus in the most efficient manner possible given the increasing costs in construction,” FISD board President Tony Hopkins said in an emailed statement from the district.
This vote allows for detailed design and bid work to proceed and be revisited by the board in October for further approvals, according to Hopkins. The project is part of ongoing work under the $128 million school bond approved by voters in November 2020.
Windsong Intermediate will receive additional parking spaces and an extended parent stacking lane. This will replace the existing running track to be rebuilt behind the parking lot, according to agenda documents. The district budgeted $4.6 million for the project, according to its bond report.
The addition of a kindergarten playground will meet the need for an age-appropriate outdoor space, according to the agenda documents. Portables will be removed and replaced with a permanent addition housing six classrooms.
The $2.4 million of renovations to Bales Intermediate will renovate existing spaces into three classrooms, five pull-out spaces for more individualized learning, a professional learning space and a maker space for collaboration.
Westwood Elementary will see a $3 million transformation of existing spaces into three classrooms, four portable classrooms, an innovation lab, an open office space and an autism unit.
PBK Architects has previously provided designs for other ongoing school bond projects, including additions to Friendswood High School and the construction of the new Cline Elementary campus.
The district anticipates the substantial completion of all three schools by July 24, 2023, per the project schedule PBK Architects presented. Construction is expected to begin in October for Windsong Intermediate and May 2023 for Bales and Westwood elementaries.
