Board reviews interlocal agreement, funding buckets and plans for a 600-student elementary school

Orange County Schools — The school board and district staff spent the second half of the meeting on the interlocal agreement (ILA) with Orange County and the district's 10‑year capital improvement plan, including plans for a new 600‑student elementary school funded largely by the 2024 general obligation bond.

Board members began by flagging language in the ILA and county policy that, on first read, appeared to give the county oversight of both bond projects and annual capital renewal projects. "When I read the interlocal agreement and the county policy controls the bond projects and all the maintenance projects," one board member said, asking whether the agreement gave the county authority over the full capital program.

District staff and counsel responded that the ILA applies to the 2024 general obligation bond and major projects tied to that bond through 2033, while recurring PAYGO and many capital renewal projects will remain managed through other funding buckets and usual processes. "Only the major projects, that are tied to 2033, as you see on the forecast are governed by the ILA," a district operations lead said, adding that staff will continue collaborating with county counterparts and keep the board informed as the core team and dashboard/reporting are established.

On funding and schedule, staff said $6,000,000 approved earlier will fund design and early site work and that the county's bond commitment is expected to make $54,000,000 available in a later year; staff presented a total project budget estimate of $55,000,000 for the new elementary school (600‑student capacity), with roughly $42,000,000 as the projected construction cost portion. "When you look at how you negotiate fees, we try to make sure that we are cognizant of the industry standards," the operations lead said, listing rough ranges (designer 5–10%, owner project management 2–4%, commissioning ~1%). Staff also described plans to use a CMAR (construction manager at risk) delivery model as specified in the ILA.

Board members pressed staff on cost control, asking whether fee structures based on percentages could incentivize larger projects; staff said fees would be negotiated and contractually fixed by deliverables and emphasized constraining the project to the $42 million construction target.

Several board members also asked about site planning and potential shared uses such as parking or an auditorium; staff said no county funding for shared facilities had been committed and that the district would develop master‑plan options that could be shared with the county without delaying the elementary school schedule.

Next steps: staff said they will bring negotiated project management and design contracts on consent this month, proceed with early site work funded by the approved $6,000,000, and return with design approvals and regular progress reporting as the project advances toward a 2029 completion target.