Image via Amarillo Pioneer Staff
Amarillo Independent School District met on Monday to discuss their budget, a potential shoring project for Austin Middle School, and designating funds for capital projects.
The board voted unanimously to approve their budget for the 2022/2023 fiscal year. As we reported last week, the budget includes an increase in funding for central administration and instructional support and a decrease in funding for instruction, district operations, debt service, and “other.” The largest change is within the “Other” category, with just under $17 million less being spent on the “facilities acquisition and construction” subcategory.
After passing the budget, the board then approved designating funds towards capital projects such as enhanced school security and adding air conditioning to elementary school gyms. Some of the items included in this project were proposed as a part of the failed Prop A bond, which would have meant they would have been funded via an increase in the property tax rate.
The board was also given a presentation from representatives from the Dallas-based architectural firm Corgan and project vendors regarding a proposed shoring project for Austin Middle School. Theresa Wieck, speaking for Corgan, stated that “the hope was that we would pass the bond and then we would move forward with a permanent solution on the structural issues.” After noting that the Prop A bond failed last month, she presented a potential shoring project that would allow the school to be used for “seven to ten years.”
During the bond election, some opponents of the bond criticized the board for not looking further into alternative options. Board member Don Powell seemed to have similar criticisms during the presentation, though he seemed to be attempting to shift the criticism towards the architectural firm for not presenting the longer-term shoring option.
“I went back and reviewed my notes in preparation for the bond that the votes had an opportunity to vote on. Maybe I’m confused, I didn’t see any presentation as relates to this shoring up as an option when this was first presented,” said Powell. The presenters noted that, at the time, the board had indicated that it needed a short term solution to get them through the bond, which was envisioned to then offer a permanent solution if it had passed.
The board previously approved a guaranteed maximum price of $338,700.84 for the shoring project during their meeting on June 13th. The meeting this week was only a presentation, no board vote to move forward with the proposal was held during the meeting.