Facilities Committee ranks JISD needs

Members of the Jacksboro ISD Facilities Visioning Committee had their chance to rank projects being considered for a potential bond issue in May during a Monday, Nov. 28 meeting.

The committee has been meeting for the last few months to determine cost and benefits for renovations and a potential 7th-8th grade campus across JISD facilities. JISD Superintendent Brad Burnett said when considering items the district staff and committee “did not want to be extravagant but not have to come back in five years and say we didn’t build enough.”

Committee members were asked to rank what they considered the top five projects necessary. The projects being considered and their costs are: Jacksboro Elementary School ($1,275,000)

• Convert an existing classroom into a restroom for grades K-1

• Divide an existing classroom into separate intervention rooms

• Construct a Pre-K classroom with restroom facilities inside

Jacksboro High School Fine Arts Facility ($15,000,000)

• New band hall with rehearsal rooms along with instrument and uniform storage space

• A theatre arts (black box) with performance seating

• Renovating the existing band hall for more cafeteria seating and a larger girls athletics weight room.

The larger cafeteria will be necessary because it is stretched to the seams as is. The possible construc- tion of a 7th-8th campus would put even more pressure as well, Burnett said.

Career/Technology Education Center ($7,000,000)

• New classrooms for the rapidly growing Ag program in the present JHS Ag building

• Family and Consumer Science classroom

• A commercial kitchen • Multi- purpose meeting room

• Classrooms for both education and training and health science • A Meat processing laboratory

• A storefront for project and product sales Field House Expansion ($5,000,000)

• Expanding the existing weightroom

• Constructing additional dressing rooms for officials and opposing teams

• Renovating existing dressing rooms to accommodate more lockers

7th-8th Grade Campus ($23,000,000)

• With the 7th-8th grade campus, the current middle school would become an intermediate campus for grades 4-6 and the elementary school would be for students in grades K-3.

Softball/Baseball Complex ($7,500,000)

• Construction of new stadium seating with an elevated press box

• Installing artificial turf on both fields

Multi-Purpose Activity Center ($18,000,000) • 70 yard football field for indoor practice

• Restrooms and storage

• Ability to be used by all sports including cheerleading along with off-season workouts as well.

Because of laws regulating bond issues, some items need to be kept separate. Burnett said all the academic renovations could be rolled into one proposition. New athletic related construction must be another proposition.

A third proposition could be the multi-purpose activity center and the baseball/softball field renovation.

Propositions that must be separated out include: A stadium with more than 1,000 seats, any recreation facility other than a gym and technological devices.

The estimated costs for facilities may also be a little high. Brett Sumrow with Corgan Architects says the fine arts facility is expected to be around 17,000 square feet and is estimated to cost around $520 a square foot for a cost of about $8.5 million.

To put that in perspective, the present Ag building is around 14,000 square feet. The proposed addition is around 10,000 square feet at about $350 a square foot.

Sumrow stated in an email the current areas and sizes are based on similar spaces at other districts.

Burnett was to compile all the surveys turned in and send the results to the committee for the top five projects. Those projects are to be submitted to the board of trustees for them to go over and consider for a possible bond issue in May 2023. The latest a bond issue can be called for May consideration is Feb. 17, 2023.