Eanes ISD unveils plan cost estimates

"The board will take this and ask for different [cost] scenarios," she said. "I anticipate they will pick and choose from [the proposal]. This is only a concept."

Part of the idea behind phasing is the fact that some projects are reliant on each other, Wellman said.

For example, Wellman said construction of the new Valley View Elementary School and upgrades to Westlake High School can happen in the same phase, but moving Forest Trail Elementary School and the Community Learning Center are dependent on the completion of Valley View.

"The elementary schools are the first steps," Wellman said. "Then the dominoes fall after that."

The estimated costs revealed to the board include those identified in the master plan as well as improvements identified as priorities. The estimates do not include improvements such as roofing, parking lots, site utilities, district-wide upgrades to the network, computers and more.

"These costs give us a sense of magnitude," Wellman said. "It gives a sense of where we are now and where we want to be. The numbers help us bridge that."

The two largest estimated expenses are the improvements to Westlake High School and the construction of the new Valley View Elementary School.

The improvements to Westlake High School garner the highest cost, with the estimates reaching $52,123,000. The largest portion of that estimate is $32,468,000 in new construction on the high school, including a gymnasium, a music facility addition and a three-story academic addition.

Wellman said the cost for the high school is higher because of the specialization involved.

"It is cheaper to build a standard classroom than it is to build a specialized room for something like band or choir," she said.

Valley View is estimated at $35,474,400, including $29.9 million in new construction, $1.3 million each in site development and fields and playgrounds, and $1,560,000 in furnishings.

Not included in the price of the high school improvements is the multipurpose facility and pool, which are estimated at $9,425,000.

The Eanes ISD board of trustees authorized Wellman to lease the district's Shriner property next to West Lake High School or enter into another appropriate legal relationship with a third party for the multipurpose facility.

The use of a third party would greatly decrease the cost to the district, Wellman said.

The Westlake Alliance for Students in Sports presented the board with one option for the land. The group proposed a partnership with D1, a firm that specializes in the development and management of sports facilities used by communities and schools.

The group proposed that D1 build and manage a 30,000-square-foot facility on the Shriner tract. The facility would have an indoor training field, batting cages, weight-training facilities, a swim facility and more.

"D1 is certainly one of the ideas for that property," said Rob Hargett, Eanes ISD school board president. "However, we are not wed to that concept. We want to give potential applicants more than the needed time."

The request for proposal on the multipurpose facility closes in mid-November, and the board will have to make a decision on the phases and aspects of the master plan by early March for the bonds to be on the May election ballot, Wellman said.