Design team: middle school construction moving into construction documents; substantial completion targeted January 2028

Design representatives told the school board the middle school project is "full steam ahead on the design" as it moves from design development into the construction-document phase, a five-month block the team said is being padded with extra contingency weeks for PSFA review.

Juan Dorado, the principal in charge for the design team, said the PSFA/PSCOC award-language change altered the project's reported square footage to match new adequacy standards, and stressed the change reflects clarified award language rather than an expansion of the planned building. He said the revised schedule pushes the anticipated substantial completion for the building portion to January 2028, with full site completion and final move-in work expected through 2028—29.

Designers also described a land-swap with an adjacent property that created a narrow "sliver" of roadway that, by current rules, cannot be covered by stateside PSFA funds. Board members were told that this small section could require a local expenditure (examples discussed ranged from a symbolic amount to more material paving costs) while most of the construction remains eligible for state participation. The presenters emphasized that the contractor bid and subsequent owner-design-review will determine the exact financial picture before any final request for phase-2 construction funding is made to PSFA/PSCOC.

Board members raised afternoon pickup and bus-queue concerns after the site-plan revisions. The design team pointed to changes that lengthen vehicle queuing, add a dedicated parking area for a school-based health clinic to reduce internal circulation, and steer buses on a south-to-north flow to minimize conflicts with parent traffic. Staff and the design team agreed to finalize traffic circulation and queuing in construction documents and to coordinate staging and contractor access in order to protect scheduling goals.

The board also heard that, because the regional water main project timeline is still uncertain, the design team plans to include a skid-mounted exterior water-filtration system so that the building has fully filtered water for students and staff regardless of when the regional main is completed.

Next steps outlined for the board included finishing construction documents, completing owner-design review and bidding, forming the selection committee for a general contractor, and then submitting the district's financial statement and phase-2 funding request to PSFA/PSCOC once contractor pricing is available.