Eanes ISD board approves cost adjustments to 2019 bond projects

Nearly five years after an $80 million Eanes ISD bond was passed, the 2019 Bond Oversight Committee recommended budget changes to a number of bond projects regarding safety, facilities and more.

The gist

The recommendations, which included project increases totaling $1.6 million and project decreases totaling about $2 million, were unanimously approved by the Eanes ISD board of trustees during a special meeting Feb. 6.

Breaking it down

The BOC recommended increasing the budget on a number of projects by a total $1.6 million, including:

Enhancing cyber security infrastructure

• Budgeted: $819,000
• Recommended budget: $1.1 million

Police department equipment

• Budgeted: $0; this item did not exist when the bond was adopted
• Recommended budget: $310,000

Athletics

• Budgeted: $361,000
• Recommended budget: $511,000

Electrical

• Budgeted: $253,000
• Recommended budget: $353,000

District applications and document management

• Budgeted: $973,000
• Recommended budget: $1.3 million

Technology district infrastructure upgrades

• Budgeted: $1.1 million
• Recommended budget: $1.5 million

The BOC also recommended decreasing the budget on a few other projects by a total of $2 million, including:

• Districtwide audio and video upgrades are now budgeted for $4.1 million, down from $5 million in the initial budget.
• The retrofitting and installation of room occupancy sensors were zeroed out. The initial budget listed $689,000, but the BOC said that the district received a better value by building it in tandem with another project instead.
• Portable refurbishments are now budgeted for $230,000, down from $500,000 in the initial budget.
• Special systems, such as elevator upgrades and locker refurbishments, are now budgeted for $682,000, down from $832,000 in the initial budget.