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District advances McKinley Tech High School to design‑development phase; construction documents expected spring 2026
Summary
District staff told the board the new career‑technical high school will be roughly 70,000 square feet, serve about 780 students, house programs from automotive to public safety and aims to open in 2027 pending completion of construction documents and solicitation.
District staff briefed the Gallup‑McKinley County Schools board that McKinley Tech High School has moved into the design‑development phase and that construction documents are targeted for completion in April–May 2026, with a potential opening in 2027.
Assistant Superintendent Catherine Kreisler and Director of Instruction Reyna Sanchez presented project details: "We have moved into the design development phase for McKinley Tech High School," Kreisler said. She described the facility as a roughly 70,000‑square‑foot building (first floor about 56,000 square feet, an upper level about 13,000 square feet) on a site of approximately 12 acres off Highway 66. Staff said the school is projected to serve about 780 students with approximately 390 occupying it at any one time, as designed to receive students from the district's feeder high schools.
Sanchez described planned programs and partnerships: automotive instruction with local college and manufacturer partnerships (San Juan College and Toyota were named), a diesel component, construction labs (welding lab, virtual welding, HVAC, plumbing, finished carpentry) with a tiny‑home build component, culinary labs including a competition kitchen, a cyber academy flex space, and upper‑level labs for digital media, engineering and public safety. The presentation noted existing heavy‑equipment simulators are already in district custody and would be housed at the new facility.
Materials and site details given in the presentation include an exterior palette of aluminum composite, Corten steel and corrugated/perforated metal. Staff said the district received state approval to proceed into design development and that solicitation for construction would follow the completion of construction documents.
Board members asked about evening or adult use; Kreisler and staff said discussions are underway with UNM and other partners to allow adult evening classes or community use but that those arrangements remain under discussion. Board members also asked about internships and partner lists; staff said partnerships with Southwest Indian Foundation for tiny homes and ongoing outreach to Navajo Technical University (NTU) and other institutions are in progress.
Nut graf: The board was given a design update that sets a clear internal timeline (construction documents by spring 2026 and an optimistic 2027 opening) and outlines programmatic priorities—career‑technical programs, industry partnerships and community use—while noting several operational details remain under negotiation.
Background: Staff framed the facility as expanding countywide career and technical education capacity and noted design work is still in progress. The project will move next to construction‑document completion and solicitation if state approvals remain in place.
Ending: Staff left time for board questions and for future updates as design development continues; no formal action on the project was taken at the meeting.
