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Queen Creek USD says high‑school additions, new bus yard will be ready before school starts as enrollment rises
Summary
District staff told the governing board the Eastmark and Crisman high‑school additions and a new satellite transportation yard are nearly complete and will be ready before the first day of school; Superintendent highlighted rapid district growth and funding constraints.
Amber Bridal and Bob Lawson gave the governing board a construction update at the board's July meeting on projects finished or nearing completion this summer.
The presentation covered three projects: a 62,500‑square‑foot school facilities division award at Eastmark High School to add a gymnasium, performing‑arts classrooms and the second portion of a 23‑classroom wing; a roughly 37,000‑square‑foot SFD award to add half of an academic wing at Crisman High School (23 classrooms); and a new satellite transportation yard at Queen Creek Junior High to accommodate an expanding bus fleet.
Bridal told the board the interior and exterior finishes at Eastmark’s gym and the performing‑arts/classroom additions are complete, school furniture is installed, punch walks began and the district is targeting substantial completion on July 17. Lawson said finishes and furniture installations at Crisman are wrapping up, the concession building painting is complete and kitchen equipment installation is underway. He said the transportation yard’s asphalt, striping and grading are finished, lighting installations (dark‑sky friendly fixtures) are under way and fencing and gates are nearly complete.
Dr. Barry, the superintendent, placed the projects in the context of district growth. “With the completion of these last two projects…this district has constructed over 1,000,000 square feet of new construction over the past eight years,” he said, adding that the district relies on alternative funding because it lacks a secondary property tax. He praised the facilities and business services teams for delivering projects on time and under budget.
District staff said equipment deliveries (weight room equipment at Eastmark), final punch‑list work and minor landscaping/fencing are scheduled in the next one to two weeks, and that traffic‑related adjacent‑ways work tied to some projects remains in progress and is expected to finish before the school year begins.
Board President Samantha Davis and other board members received the update and had no substantive revisions to the construction schedule at the meeting.
The board was invited to a Mountain Trail Academy ribbon cutting on July 16 and staff encouraged trustees and community members to inspect the new additions once final fencing and landscaping are complete.
