Gatesville ISD discusses paying $1.4 million up front to speed junior high renovations; bond trade-offs outlined

District staff briefed the Gatesville ISD Board of Trustees on potential ways to accelerate a proposed $26,000,000 bond project for junior high renovations and related athletic facilities, including an option to pay $1,400,000 now for full design work and be reimbursed later if the bond is sold.

The staff presentation, delivered during the board’s regular meeting, said paying the design costs up front would allow construction to "hit the ground running" as soon as bond funds were available and could reduce price escalation tied to delays. "If you wait for the bond and then you start drawing, then that's where all these prices start because it's months and months and months more," the staff member said.

Board members and staff discussed what the $26 million package would include. Staff said the full package would cover moving sixth grade to the junior high, expanding the cafeteria into the library, building a new library, connecting Mary Bishop and Jim (campus connections described by staff), removing portables, bringing restrooms into ADA compliance, constructing a 14,000-square-foot metal field house to house boys' sports (except tennis), resurfacing the track and building a press box on the vista side with 1,000 added home-side seats. The staff noted that opting to pay $1,400,000 up front could mean the auditorium would receive only acoustic repairs rather than a full renovation: "you would not get the turf on football or baseball, and you would not get the Clay Reeves Auditorium fully redeveloped. It would just be the acoustics," the staff member said.

Board members expressed differing priorities. One trustee called for preserving fine-arts amenities, noting the high school's auditorium is used for many district performances, and questioned whether a minimal auditorium renovation at the junior high would leave the space underused. Another trustee said baseball and softball fields receive heavy community use and voiced concern those sports could be shortchanged if funds are reallocated.

Financial context was provided: staff reported an unassigned fund balance of about $11,500,000 from last year (audited year-end not yet final) and said the district has money available to consider paying design costs up front, but that legal and restricted fund-balance requirements must be considered. "We'll have to have discussions with you all about our fund balance, how much is in there, how much is restricted to the two or three months operating expenses you have to keep in there legally and how much you have to play with," the staff member said.

No formal motion or vote occurred on the $1.4 million payment at the meeting. Staff said they expect to return with additional scenarios and asked the board to consider whether it wants to authorize paying the design costs before the bond sale. "The next month or so ... we may come to you and ask you, if you want to bite the bullet on the $1,400,000 up front or give y'all some more scenarios of different options and see which way you wanna go," the staff member said.

The board did not make a final decision on scope trade-offs such as whether to include turf for football or baseball or a full auditorium remodel. Staff said builders typically present conservative cost estimates to avoid cost overruns and that actual project pricing can vary.

The district indicated staff will present financing options, restricted fund balances and specific scenarios at a future meeting to allow trustees to decide whether to fund design costs now or wait for post-bond-design procurement.