Conroe ISD approves over $100 million from bond to renovate multiple campuses – Houston Public Media
On Tuesday, the Conroe ISD School Board approved the guaranteed maximum contract price for renovation projects at five different existing campuses. In total, the board approved approximately $107 million across three contracts. Safety and security were also addressed in all of the improvement proposals. The renovations are expected to be completed before 2026.
The majority of the bond was already designated for new school buildings. Other portions of the bond were also earmarked for safety, security, infrastructure and new buses.
The first contract considered over $43 million combined in renovations for both Ford and Creighton Elementary Schools. Conroe ISD Assistant Superintendent of Operations Chris McCord said during the meeting that the improvements at these two campuses would include new editions as well as a driveway expansion at the Ford campus.
"At Creighton, we're looking at a gym addition, electrical work, casework, much-needed finished and renovations," McCord said. "At Ford, it will be a gymnasium [and] classrooms. ... In May, we finished at 127% of capacity at Ford, so we're doing a classroom addition there."
Haley and Bucklew Elementary Schools will also be guaranteed a maximum contract price of over $39 million for similar work.
McCord said a fair amount of the planned renovations would consist of simple maintenance and upkeep.
"[Things like] paint, finishes, finish fixing up classrooms that we have to move or do construction to as we move kids around," he said. "It can be a lot of different things. It's kind of open-ended."
The nearly $24 million proposal for Knox Junior High School was the final contract to be approved. One of its main features would be a generator, McCord said.
"I'm excited about the generators; and upon completion of this work for this bond, we believe we will have a generator at every campus," he said.
Following the approval of all four proposals, the board's first vice president and position 5 member, Theresa Wagaman said she was glad the litany of issues, both big and small, were being taken care of.
"I just want to say how excited I am about the Knox Junior High renovations," she said. "They have been due for a while and I look forward to seeing how we create a much brighter and just more exciting learning experience for our kids at Knox."
