Facilities director reports Bond 21 work nearly complete; Tomahawk rebuild opens, early childhood center planning underway

Judd Rimmer, the district's new facilities director, told the Finance & Facilities Committee that Bond 21 construction is nearing completion and highlighted multiple summer projects: roofing overlays, concrete and asphalt repairs, interior flooring replacements, synthetic-turf baseball infields, LED lighting retrofits and HVAC upgrades.

"We're nearing the end of bond 21, and so much of this summer's work was comprised of cycle capital outlay projects," Rimmer said, and listed roofing overlay work at Overland Park Elementary, McCullough, Westridge, South and Horizons; concrete and asphalt improvements at Lenexa Hills, McCullough, North High School and Horizons; and interior flooring replacements at Sunflower, Blue Jacket Flint, West High School and South. Rimmer said the district is replacing older VCT floors with rubber tile in many heavily used public areas to improve acoustics and reduce maintenance.

Other highlights: - Synthetic turf infields were installed at Northwest, North and South (infields only; outfields remain natural grass) so teams can practice during spring rain and align practice surfaces with varsity competition turf. - Phase 1 of a district-wide LED lighting retrofit began this summer, covering nearly all high schools (Horizons deferred to Phase 2); staff said the project covers roughly 1,750,000 square feet of the district's approximately 5,500,000 interior square feet. Rimmer said simple payback for the LED investment is about six years, and fixtures carry a 15-year warranty. - HVAC upgrades (phase 5) included equipment replacements at Ray Marsh, Marion Park, Broken Arrow, Corinth, Oak Park Carpenter, the North High School pool and the Northwest chiller. Rimmer noted pool HVAC ("pool pack") replacements are important for maintaining appropriate water and air conditions for swimming and diving activity. - Furniture refreshes and cafeteria reconfigurations were completed at multiple schools, and several academic-wing and cafeteria refreshes at South and West High Schools were noted.

Tomahawk Elementary: Rimmer described the newly rebuilt Tomahawk Elementary (Bond 21 final rebuild) as having opened for the school year after a community ribbon cutting and a building tour on Aug. 5. He said art installations and murals were completed with help from staff artist Paige Crosswhite and that the building opened to students on Aug. 11.

Early childhood center: staff said they have begun early planning and programming for a new early childhood center on the former Catherine Carpenter site. "The building has been demoed, and the site's been graded back. So it's a blank canvas," Rimmer said. Staff confirmed the district will use remaining Bond 21 funds to begin the project and that exact programming (ages served, hours, mix of school-year preschool versus year-round child care or developmental services) is still under discussion; staff plan to engage strategic-plan action-team members, school staff and neighborhood stakeholders as plans progress.

Upcoming and ongoing work: Rimmer described a plan to relocate a practice baseball field onto West High School's campus this fall, continued LED work focused on middle schools in Phase 2 next summer and ongoing evaluation of district facilities to prioritize future rebuilds. He said staff will present refreshed facility-condition ratings and will convene a strategic-plan subteam to inform any future bond planning.

No formal committee action was taken during the briefing; staff asked committee members to convey any items for the Nov. 6 meeting agenda to district contacts in the interim.