Board authorizes bond preparations for Percy Julian; construction updates show mixed timelines

The Montgomery County Board of Education on May 13 authorized district staff and advisers to prepare requests for proposals to select an underwriter for bonds to finance the new Percy Julian High School and approved temporary reimbursement authority for pre-issuance expenditures. The action was approved as part of the consent agenda, which passed unanimously.

The authorization allows the superintendent, the district chief school financial officer and financial advisers to prepare and distribute an RFP to hire underwriters for the bond warrants tied to the Percy Julian project. Pamela Watkins, the district’s chief school financial officer, told the board the resolution also lets the district “incur some expenditures necessary related to the Percy Julian project, prior to the issuance of those warrants” and be reimbursed afterward.

Board members heard detailed construction updates across the district. Volker project manager Penn reported South Lawn Middle School’s gym addition is about 65% complete but said she expects the contractor’s request for time extensions “due to weather, couple of unforeseen conditions, as well as the change in the roof design.” Penn said the project has poured the topping slab and restarted roof installation but that the board should anticipate a contract-completion date extension and that staff will present time-extension details at a future meeting.

Park Crossing High School has advanced closer to turnover. Penn said the project passed an overhead inspection and is “97% complete,” and that a tentative substantial-completion inspection originally scheduled for late May will take place June 12. Furniture delivery was scheduled to begin June 16, according to the update.

Phase 1 work tied to Percy Julian — including the Todd Road relocation and associated infrastructure — is under way. Penn told the board contractors have placed asphalt except for a final layer and have poured storm inlets; she said the district has submitted a street vacation packet to the City of Montgomery Planning Commission for review on May 22 and will proceed to a dedication process when that is approved. The owner–GC contract for Phase 2 was executed and the district scheduled a preconstruction conference May 22 with the state inspector.

Smaller projects on the board’s agenda also moved forward. Facilities staff recommended the low bidders for HVAC, window, lighting and some door-access work at Morning View Elementary and Davis (the certified bid tabulations were included in board materials), with the district aiming to begin work this summer. Chad Anderson, presenting the renovations, said the scope “includes the windows, HVAC, drop ceiling, lighting, and some door access for those projects.” Those items were included in the consent agenda that the board approved unanimously.

Watkins detailed the district’s broader fiscal picture while presenting the March financial statements: “Although our general fund balance is a hundred and 31,000,000, not all of it is discretionary,” she said, adding that the district’s true discretionary balance is roughly $109,000,000 and that the district currently holds about $23,100,000 in reserves for capital, technology, security and vehicles. Watkins said staff will recommend increasing certain reserves in June.

Board members also asked about bus electrification. Facilities staff said the district has secured grant money for electric buses but has encountered supply-chain vendor changes: the manufacturer originally named in the grant is out of business, and staff are working with the state to reassign the award to a local vendor. Facilities staff added the district is building electrical infrastructure at the transportation renovation project so future charging stations can be “plug and play.”

The board was given districtwide minority participation figures for contracting: Penn noted the district’s MBE/DBE participation is about 45% for professional service contracts and roughly 4% for construction contracts.

Next steps: staff will advertise the underwriter RFPs, review contractor time-extension requests for South Lawn, continue preconstruction steps for Percy Julian Phase 2 after the May 22 planning review, and schedule start dates for the Morning View and Davis renovations to minimize disruption to classrooms.