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Update on bond construction projects

Not everyone in the 91��Ƭ�� is getting a long winter break.

While most of us circle the holidays on the calendar because we get to take those days off, the district’s facility services team circles those days for a different reason. Those are prime work days.

They take advantage of empty campuses to do maintenance, construction and renovations. And the longer schools are out, the more work they can get done.

“The holidays are still a time for celebration and rest; however, it is also a time for our team to work on special projects and perform critical preventative maintenance,” said Kelly Horn, 91��Ƭ�� assistant superintendent of facility services. “So, while the students and staff are away on a winter break, custodians are busy sprucing things up and restoring finishes for the spring semester. The maintenance teams are catching up on work orders to repair things that have been damaged or broken and tuning up HVAC systems to prepare them for the colder weather in January and February. And our facility planning and construction team continues to push projects forward to the finish for renovation work, new schools and additions.”

There are a lot of those projects to push forward with Bond 2019 construction projects under construction throughout the district. Some of the holiday bond work includes:

• Arlington High School – Crews will pour concrete for the roof deck of the storm shelter and continue roofing and exterior wall framing on the addition. In the existing building, the corridor flooring in Halls A and B will get replaced.
• New junior high – Work has just begun on the new school that will replace Carter Junior High. Excavation for the building’s crawlspace will be done over the next few weeks.
• Duff Elementary – Library renovations will begin over the break. Construction has also started on a new gymnasium.
• Short Elementary – Short has received significant renovations over much of the last year and the project is nearing the end. New interior doors and hardware will be installed over the break and the electrical panels will be replaced.
• Bailey Junior High – Bailey has a major addition under construction that includes new classrooms and an expanded cafeteria. The concrete slab for the new kitchen is getting poured this week and work on the new parking lot will continue over the break.
• Martin High School and Glaspie Field – The groundbreaking for these projects was held in October, and now it’s really time to get started. The general contractor for the job will mobilize on site over the break.
• Sam Houston High School – The work at Sam started over the summer and will continue into the holidays with renovations in some restrooms and fine arts areas.
• South Davis Elementary – Crews will get some painting done at South Davis over the break, pour a new sidewalk and install some new fencing on the east side of campus.
• Playgrounds – The construction team is pushing to have all of the new playgrounds open by the time students return to school in January. The final four to finish are Speer, Peach, McNutt and Amos.

“I am so very proud of the work that our facility services team performs in such a short period of time at the breaks,” Horn said. “They are amazing people with a servant heart for students and staff of 91��Ƭ��. It is an honor to lead such fine people in an amazing school district.”