District business administrator says new schools on track for functional opening day despite muddy sites

Jared Black, the district’s business administrator, told the Cache County School District Board on March 5 that site work and interior finishes on several new schools are advancing and that key building systems are now working. “We’re up to about 77% complete right now,” he said of Hyde Park Middle, adding that main power is on and hydronic heating and boilers have started without major leaks.

Black walked board members through recent progress photos and systems updates: media-center casework at Hyde Park was roughly 95% installed, kitchen vent hoods and walk-in refrigeration were in place, and cooling-tower connections were complete. He said the gym’s hardwood floor requires a climatized environment and that interior conditioning is now sufficient to begin that work.

At the elementary site, Black reported that the district completed the second-floor concrete pour by March 1 and that framing, drywall and much of the HVAC backbone are in place. “We’ll have every classroom finished that we need to have in. We’ll have a functional kitchen, functional gym, functional office,” he said, while noting that final landscaping and some exterior finishes may not be complete for opening day.

Board members and staff discussed how the slide-deck metrics compare to what teams see on site. Black said the project team held an extended conversation about lagging indicators in the project tracking and that field observations suggested the elementary progress is in the low-to-mid 40% range, with some staff estimating as high as 46–47%. “We actually think that that chart’s misleading. We think we’re well into the forties somewhere,” he said.

Black outlined near-term tasks: completing roof joists and gym steel, finishing the gym deck, completing remaining underground utility connections and finalizing cabinetry and carpet. He reminded the board of the contract deadline of July 31 and said staff are targeting an April status where most interior work will be complete and classrooms functional. The agenda listed Donna Adams as the construction update presenter; the board packet shows that Jared Black, the business administrator, delivered the update at the meeting.

The board did not take formal action on the construction items; staff said they will return with updated photos and progress metrics at the next regular meeting.