In a nutshell
The board-approved budget for the May 2023 bond includes $22.9 million for a natatorium. The current estimate for the project—a naturally ventilated facility with garage doors that open—is $6 million greater than the approved budget, according to the agenda packet.
According to the packet, the project will require use of program contingency funds from FBISD's 2014 or 2018 bond programs.
“The action that you would be taking tonight would be directing staff to move forward with a practice facility as it was budgeted for, not necessarily advertised as part of the [2023] bond,” FBISD Chief Financial Officer Bryan Guinn said.
The details
The new building would be built in the southeast area of the district where there is not a facility to serve students. The building will be an indoor swim facility for swimming and diving competitions, according to the district’s bond explanation.
It will be built at 16707 Bissonnet St., Sugar Land, across from Hodges Bend Middle School, as of Nov. 15 on the bond project database.
According to the bond database, the timeline for the new facility includes:
- Pre-design: May 2023-December 2024
- Design: January 2025-September 2025
- Construction: February 2026-April 2027
- Completion: June 2027
How we got here
In May 2023, voters approved FBISD to spend $1.26 billion on school construction projects, technology upgrades and a natatorium. However, FBISD staff notified trustees earlier this year it would cost $163.2 million more to complete the projects than anticipated.
At the previous board meeting in October, trustees voted to eliminate a new elementary school in Harvest Green, delay a transportation facility and adjust fine arts and athletics projects to cut $95.9 million off the overage, Community Impact reported.
Digging deeper
At previous meetings, FBISD trustees discussed whether the swimming facility should be built as an open-air facility or competition-style facility with air conditioning, as well as what the district is required to provide per bond ballot language.
An investigation into the scope of the proposed natatorium, completed in late September, showed that while FBISD administration didn’t intentionally confuse or mislead voters regarding the scope of the project, former administrators “did not adequately communicate to the board or the public that the project would be a replica of the district’s existing aquatics practice facility.”
It found staff always planned for the aquatic center to be built like the existing aquatic practice facility, and the district was not legally liable to create a facility similar to the district’s existing Don Cook Natatorium.
What they’re saying
“[At] the last meeting, we had this conversation about our spending problem, and I know for a fact that last year when we got in this situation with the shortfall, I did not probe enough regarding cost overruns and the bond budget,” trustee Sonya Jones said.
What’s next
The Department of Operations will bring to the board the construction contract and use of contingency of past bonds at the January board meeting.
“This is just saying that we would look to contingency to fill that void. We will be bringing back the contract and the use of contingency for board consideration. So there's still time in that process,” Guinn said to the board regarding the agenda item.
