Committee hears details, schedule and financing options for junior-high Renovation Phase 2

Mr. Wilkinson updated the committee on the junior-high Renovation Phase 2 and described work already completed and the scope planned for the next summers. He said the district completed four special-education classrooms, classroom ceiling and lighting work, and unit-ventilator replacements in the most recent summer, and that accelerating some second-summer items produced economies of scale.

For the next phase the district plans HVAC improvements including replacing a failing commons compressor and splitting the auditorium HVAC into two zones so stage-only events can be conditioned separately. Mr. Wilkinson listed life-safety items—aisle lighting and an accessibility staircase—that he said will likely be contracted directly rather than requiring a construction manager. He also said the project includes an interior security-camera and intrusion-detection package currently estimated at about $800,000; cameras might be procured directly from a vendor.

Mr. Wilkinson presented revised schedule and cost estimates, citing roughly $6.3 million in work for the summer just completed and indicating the overall program is slightly above a $20 million estimate. He proposed a pause in summer 2026 (moving from a four-summer plan to a three-summer approach with a pause) to consolidate work to make construction-manager services more cost-effective and to delay issuing the remainder of bonds until bids and interest-rate conditions are clearer. He noted deferring work could add an estimated year of escalation (roughly 5 percent) but could reduce the amount of interest paid if the district delays bond issuance.

Committee member Keith asked about outstanding bonds and whether ROI estimates are available for the HVAC improvements; Mr. Wilkinson said he did not have current bond-balance figures on hand and would provide them later and that manufacturers or the engineers could often provide ROI or energy-efficiency guidance. On life-safety lighting, Mr. Wilkinson and the questioner agreed emergency egress illumination that remains operable during power loss is part of the safety upgrade scope.

Mr. Wilkinson asked the committee to authorize architects to prepare bid documents and put together the bid packages needed to proceed with the summer-2025 scope; he framed the request as routine summer capital work and noted that a typical summer project is in the $700k-—700k-800k range. The committee did not take a recorded vote in the excerpt.