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Board reallocates $5.9M from Lee Freshman to build permanent Encore Academy; several bond contracts approved
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Summary
Trustees approved reallocating $5.9 million from the Lee Freshman project to construct a dedicated Encore Academy for students 18–22 and awarded architects and contractors for multiple 2023 bond packages including packages 8, 12 and 13.
The Midland ISD board approved multiple bond‑related actions March 24, including a $5.9 million reallocation from the Lee Freshman High School project to fund a new permanent facility for Encore Academy — the district’s 18–22 transition program for students served by special education.
Administrators and Park Hill representatives told trustees the new Encore facility on or near the Story Middle School site would double current program square footage and capacity, provide dedicated life‑skills and vocational spaces (culinary lab, outdoor garden and recreation court), and could open by August 2027. Officials argued new construction would be more cost‑effective and faster to bring online than renovating older campus buildings such as Lee Freshman, which they estimated would require roughly $17 million just to address basic repairs and systems to make it functional.
The reallocation motion (to move $5.9M from Lee Freshman to Encore) passed unanimously. Administrators said the move would leave approximately $11.1M on the Lee Freshman line for future considerations and was expected to save an estimated $8.7M compared with full renovation of the older site.
The board also approved architectural and construction awards connected to the 2023 bond:
- Vandergriff Group Architects was recommended and approved for Bond package 12 (Carver Center and Young Women’s Leadership Academy) to handle elementary‑grade remodels. Trustees asked about local architectural capacity; staff noted a preselected pool of firms from the bond RFQ.
- Park Hill was approved as the architecture/engineering firm for Bond package 13 (John Reddy Story Middle School improvements and the new Encore facility). That motion passed 6–1.
- The board approved ranking respondents for CSP 26‑31 (Bond package 8 elementary group B) and authorized staff to negotiate with the highest‑ranked proposer, Oprex Construction, for an $18,270,000 construction cost within the bond budget.
Separately, Mr. Lopez reported that Energy Transfer pipeline relocation surveyors were onsite and scheduled excavation work this week or next; construction crews indicated the relocation would not delay the opening of the two new high schools funded by bond 2023.
What's next: Park Hill and district staff will finalize designs for package 13 and return agreements and fee negotiations for execution; the Encore project will move to design and procurement phases with a target to enroll students in a permanent facility for the 2027–28 school year.
