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Clear Creek Amana board approves predesign, programming plans for middle and high school additions
Summary
The Clear Creek Amana board approved predesign and programming plans to add instructional capacity at the high school and a modified middle school plan that preserves band space while reducing the commons; the board authorized moving forward with design services and use of bond and SAVE fund resources to cover costs.
The Clear Creek Amana Community School District board voted to approve predesign and programming plans for additions at the middle school and high school, aiming to add instructional capacity and flexible career-and-technical-education (CTE) space.
The approved high school plan restores the original footprint and would add approximately five classrooms and space for an industrial-technology lab designed to be modular and adaptable. The board approved a modified middle school plan that retains the planned band space but reduces the size of the commons to keep costs within the district—s available funding.
Board materials and a PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) committee recommendation presented in the meeting said the district has design budget and bonding capacity to move forward. The committee—s analysis showed nearly all construction funding available within the remaining bond authorization, with approximately $1,500,000 expected to come from the district—s SAVE fund while maintaining a projected SAVE balance above about $3,000,000.
Board members and district staff discussed program implications, including teacher placement and future program needs. Laurie, presenting the item, said the industrial-tech lab is being designed to be flexible so it can adapt to different course offerings and personnel. She also said design details such as overhead-door placement, door sizes and the internal arrangement of classrooms will be worked out with staff through an iterative design-development process over the next months. "These very specific pieces of details between each of these classrooms will happen over the next eight months," Laurie said.
Staff described the anticipated project timeline: design services begin immediately and will be billed as the work proceeds; bidding is expected in March or April (year not specified in the materials) with construction payments and contractor draws likely to begin in June 2026 at the earliest, according to staff and the district—s bonding counsel. Laurie said the district satisfied bonding counsel on the schedule for major expenditures.
Board materials showed an earlier design estimate just under $22 million and that the district has up to $24 million available; the revised scope slightly exceeds the original estimate but aims to preserve instructional space by reducing nonessential elements (the larger middle-school commons). The board—s motion to approve the predesign and programming plan carried on an "aye" vote.
Several staff and teachers were identified as stakeholders who will provide design input in the design-development stage, including teachers who would move into new classrooms and CTE instructors who would help shape the industrial-tech lab layout. The district also noted it will coordinate additional financial details with its bonding counsel as design and bidding progress.
The board made the motion to approve the plans, members answered "aye" and the motion carried. No amendments to the predesign were proposed at the meeting.
