District outlines $66.5 million bond plan for high‑school entrance, CTE addition and multipurpose field house

At the Dexter Community School District Board of Education meeting on Oct. 20, district officials presented design concepts and a construction schedule for projects to be funded from Series 1 bond proceeds.

The superintendent told the board, “we have $66,500,000 sitting in the bank right now,” and outlined a timeline in which preliminary cost estimates will be delivered in mid‑November, more detailed estimates in December, bidding in January and February, and construction beginning in 2026. Staff said the field‑house portion of the program is targeted to be available for fall sports in 2027 if the schedule is met.

Why it matters: the projects would change how people enter the high school, add instructional space for career and technical education, and create a large indoor practice and multipurpose area intended to accommodate many teams simultaneously. That could reduce off‑site practices and create space for community events, but it also raises cost and site‑planning issues the board must weigh.

Planned work and details presented - High‑school entrance and weight room: staff showed a conceptual rotunda to provide a more prominent secure entry, a curved weight‑room addition with a side entrance for athletics, mechanical space and adjacent storage. Work includes reworking the drop‑off/pickup loop and paving a grass parking area currently used informally.

- CTE addition and shop space: plans call for converting existing back rooms into a large wood shop/construction trades space, adding drama and music storage, and constructing a small exterior foundation area so students can build project homes that could be placed on trailers and sold. Staff described smaller, inexpensive infrastructure work (a simple poured foundation) to enable hands‑on projects.

- Field house: the district presented a roughly 60,000 square‑foot main floor with a possible 10,000 square‑foot mezzanine. The mezzanine dimensions shown were about 53 feet by 185 feet. On the main surface staff described about 50 feet of usable turf plus a 10‑foot end‑zone allowance, enough room for sprint lanes, practice for pole vault and long jump, batting cages and other training setups. Officials said fitting a competition‑sized facility would add substantially to cost — staff cited an incremental figure of roughly $10 million to $20 million to reach competition standards, depending on mitigation and site work.

Constraints and next steps Staff flagged several constraints: wetlands that cross part of the proposed site, significant elevation changes that could require retaining walls, and traffic and intersection safety at the high‑school exit on Parker Road. The presentation noted that some circulation improvements, including a major driveway or a future roundabout or signal, could take two to three years and require coordination with road authorities.

Other items in the scope include new outside restroom buildings near practice fields (four single‑use units were discussed), resurfacing of the Challenger Field, and additional parking accessed from a new drive to the rear of the site. Staff emphasized phased design and bid timing: initial estimates will inform any redesign decisions before bidding starts.

Board members asked about trade‑offs — for example, building up (adding a mezzanine) versus expanding the footprint into wetlands — and staff said expanding outward would likely increase wetland mitigation costs substantially.

What the board will decide next District staff said more detailed design documents and cost estimates are expected in the coming weeks. Those estimates will be used to refine scope and return to the board for procurement approvals. No final construction contracts for these major projects were approved at the Oct. 20 meeting.

Provenance Topic intro: Oct. 20, 2025, 00:25:16 (bond update begins) Topic finish: Oct. 20, 2025, 01:10:08 (adjournment)