The Levelland ISD Board of Trustees held their monthly regular meeting on Wednesday where the group was presented the highly anticipated Community Facilities Committee presentation of their Long-Term Facility Recommendations.
The committee which has held numerous meetings throughout the past several months includeded: Dallas Pena, Chair; Misty Agnew, Vice-Chair; John Agnew; Tell Campbell; Iris Keeling; Alycyn Keeling; Brenda Ewerz; Rob Martin; Juan Partida; Jaime McCabe; Derek Lawless; Terri White; Donny Berry; Debra Burnett; LeeAnn Paxton; Lorie Marquez; Albert Garcia; Kristy VanZandt; Jaime Timian; Frankie Villarreal; Eric Niederhauser; Kimberly Young; Terez Golightly; Raynie Gibbs; Boogie Webb; Matt McDonald; Joyce Johnson, LISD Board Member; Mike Stafford, LISD Board Member; and Treva Potter, LISD Board Member.
The committee was charged with reviewing the status of all LISD facilities, reviewing facility studies, discussing the financial impact of each facility, conduct facility walk-throughs and providing the LISD School Board with recommendations for the future needs of each facility.
Additionally, committee members agreed to attend weekly committee meetings and facility tours to identify the needs of the district and explore possible solutions. Superintendent Rebecca McCutchen, along with Teresa Montemayor and Adam Oliva, also attended these weekly committee meetings and facility tours to provide information regarding: Physical conditions of the district facilities; Current space and service standards; TASB facility study, survey, and report; Armko Roof Inspections Report; GA Environmental Mold Report for LIS 220; GA Environmental Asbestos Report for LIS; Facility improvement history; Demographic and student growth projections to anticipate future needs; and Programmatic needs of the district.
While reviewing all data presented to the group, the committee crafted multiple questions that were essential to the future of the district.
What needs to be done for the school facilities to accommodate anticipated enrollment decline and the impacted budget that does not support all current facilities? What are the near-term improvements the school buildings need? How should they address them? How can the school buildings better support students’ and teachers’ experiences of safety, belonging, and learning?
On behalf of the group, Pena representing the Community Facilities Committee and thanked his committee for all their efforts and thanked the board for the opportunity to do the project.
Pena reported that the committee has been working for six months to produce their report and explained that the budget for the district cannot support every building that is currently within the system. Factors such as reduced enrollment, slowing state funding and shrinking tax bases have created the need for changes.
The committee found that the budget for the school district cannot support every campus’s daily operational cost. There is simply not enough funding from the local tax base nor from the state in the face of dwindling enrollment to continue to utilize all buildings.
Moreover, repair and improvement necessary for the facilities district-wide exert more strain on an already tight budget. This requires facility closures.
“It is abundantly clear that the current administration and school board, under the leadership of Rebecca McCutchen, have been making difficult decisions to restructure how facilities are utilized in order to keep our district operational within budget,” said Pena “We applaud their efforts and realize that changes must be made to sustain our school district in the long-term. LIS was reported by TASB to have millions of dollars of roof repairs, alongside concern over mold from leaks and asbestos in the basement. The current structure of campus realignments has been a good temporary fix, but it is not a feasible permanent solution, with temporary portable buildings and overcrowding. We must find a way to maximize space and prioritize repairs, while also providing safe and effective learning environments for students and teachers.”
Pena added that current information as of December 2023 appears to have changed the outlook for LIS repair costs.
“Due to the following updates in information, we feel LIS would be a more feasibly financially operational campus than previously reported, and the closure of alternative campuses makes more sense,” said Pena.
The Armko roof survey resulted in discovery of improperly installed roof over the academic side of LIS, that can be repaired, replaced at no cost to the district under warranty thus making the repairs, improvements, and maintenance costs of the building more feasible. This information was not previously available to the district due to Tecta America, the contractor that installed 26,000 square foot of roof in 2016, recommending a full roof replacement instead of disclosing that the roof was still under warranty and most issues were due to poor workmanship. Tecta was contacted by the district when the original feasibility study was performed by the district leadership during the 22-23 school year.
A second point was the GA Environmental mold and asbestos reports showed higher levels of mold outside the building than inside of LIS. The asbestos report regarding the basement showed no need for abatement currently and safe for entry without the use of PPE.
As a committee, they brought three options for the LIS campus that the district should consider: Reopen the campus for teaching, reopen the campus and find another use by other staff, programs, or attempt to sell the property, and if it can’t be sold, have the building demolished.
The first recommendation was tailored to creating and work with a Long-Range Planning Committee to brainstorm ideas to maintain and repair facilities, or liquidate unused facilities and lower operating costs.
Pena stated that the committee recognizes the extreme complexity of structuring campuses and educational programs considering an evertightening budget.
“We had limited time to address and explore the many facility issues brought to us by the school district,” said Pena We believe an advisory committee with a much longer scope of time would benefit the district’s longterm planning regarding facilities.
These duties would include but not be limited to: Develop plans to utilize and/ or sell vacated campuses; Continue to assess campus feasibility on a year-by-year basis; Work with campus administration to utilize available funds for special projects and large-scale maintenance and or repair needs; and Develop a long-term vision (10-20 years) for district facility development and construction projects.
Ideally, such a committee would include LISD District Administration, community members, campus administrators, teachers, city and county leaders, and partners from other taxable entities in our county.
Recommendation two was tailored to the reopening of the LIS for district use. It was explained that the committee believes utilizing the LIS campus is in the best interest of the district. Three options were provided to the board based on the committees recommendation, in order of their most desired.
Option one included the consolidation of grades three through fifth in one campus at LIS. The district would also consolidate all grades first and second in one campus at Capitol Elementary. The district would then work with a Long-Range Planning Committee to brainstorm ideas to consolidate, liquidate unused facilities and lower operating costs as presented in recommendation two. Grades three through four would be relocated from Capitol and South Elementary Schools, while fifth grade would relocate from Levelland Middle School (LMS). This would also move all grades first and second to the Capitol Elementary School Campus, close South Elementary School to students and allow for evaluation of the best future use of South Elementary.
Pena explained that those moved would best address some of the district’s issues such as: The LIS enrollment capacity (29 home rooms) can accommodate a teacher student ratio estimation of 1:22, on track with state trends; This removes fifth grade from the LMS Campus, eliminating the issue of overcrowding with six floating teachers and disruption of the fifth grade building traffic, bell schedule and additional lunch period concerns; Students in grades third through fifth that must STAAR Test will be together in one building, as opposed to spread out over three campuses. That would allow for more comprehensive horizontal alignment of academic strategies and will cause less disruption for the lower grades during testing periods; Relocating third and fourth grade from Capitol to LIS opens classroom space for second grade from South Elementary. This allows for all students in second grade to be together in one building, allowing for more comprehensive horizontal alignment of academic strategies; This allows for South Elementary campus to be used for other programs and staff in the future. A long-range planning committee can explore options; This allows for the LIS Auditorium and Gym to continue to be utilized by the district and community; and Relocating third and fourth grades from Capitol to LIS also opens enough classroom space for first grade to relocate from the Academic Beginning Center (ABC) to Capitol. This frees up classroom space at ABC to relieve the overcrowding issues and the need for temporary portable buildings at that campus. The portable buildings can then be reallocated or sold.
Option two includes relocating personnel and students from other campuses to LIS which should include: Relocation of all personnel and students currently at Cactus; Relocation of all personnel currently at the administration building; and Create and work with a Long-Range Planning Committee to brainstorm ideas to consolidate, liquidate unused facilities and lower operating costs which coincides with recommendation two.
While this option doesn’t address the horizonal alignment issues with grades two through four at different campuses, nor does it address the overcrowding and disruptive fifth grade bell schedule at LMS, it does: Allow for LIS campus to be used for Administration, staff and students from Cactus Elementary, or even maintenance personnel, eliminating operational costs of campuses that can relocate into LIS. This also eliminates the operational cost of the nonrevenue generating facility (Administration); and Allows for the LIS Auditorium and Gym to continue to be utilized by the district and community.
Option three includes: The attempt to sell unused property to an interested buyer, if a sale does not occur, the group would recommend demolition of the LIS building; The estimated cost to demolish a building is $25.00 to $50.00 per square foot, which is estimated between $2,775,000.00 to $5,550,000.00 (based on current market demolition in Levelland); and These projects could have to be engineered with an asbestos abatement.
“While this is the last option the committee would desire, we believe it is not in the best interest of the district or the community to leave LIS as an empty facility, losing value while going unused,” said Pena.
Pena also presented a list of priority improvements for the LIS facility which include: Roof Repair and Drain Clearing, A/C Condensation, Plumbing and Water Testing, Ant Infestation/Professional Pest Control, Safety Vestibule Construction, Lift for stage in auditorium, Minor aesthetic improvements throughout campus and Phased plan for replacement of HVAC systems The undesignated available fund balance as presented by the LISD administration on September 6, 2023, totaled $2.4 million.
“On behalf of the Facilities Committee for LISD, I want to thank the LISD school board for collaborating with our group to formulate the best recommendations for the LISD campus facilities’ future,” said Pena. “This will be the first of a number of important recommendations that will be made in the next 30-60 days and we thank you for your consideration and help in this effort. We are aware we have other recommendations to provide, but as a committee we felt that the future use of Levelland Intermediate School was the most pressing.”
As the facilities chair, Pena emphasized that the recommendations brought to the board were unanimous and much effort was made to put every feasible option they could formulate as a positive outcome for the district.
“In the matter concerning Levelland Intermediate School, we strongly feel that the school must be utilized in some form or fashion to alleviate prior issues discussed in this recommendation and simultaneously recognize the significant investment that the local taxpayers put into this school just eight years ago,” explained Pena. “However, if the school board thinks of leaving this building unoccupied, we must prepare to sell or demolish the building immediately. The one thing the school district must not do is leave this building vacant for years allowing it to slowly deteriorate and open the district up to potential liability and leave another abandoned building in the middle of our community.”
Following the report, LISD Board President Carrie Ellis asked Pena what the committee would tackle next. Pena noted that focus needs to shifted toward Carver.
Ellis questioned the choice of moving students out of South Elementary instead of LIS. Pena explained that the Intermediate building is larger and has much more upside compared to the South building. Ellis also questioned the bond money spent on South and Intermediate. Pena suggested that South Elementary be renovated over the next couple of years and sell the current administration building.
Ellis posed questions regarding the timeline of the plan as the district is already in the works of the 2024 calender. Pena explained that the district is the expert when putting together the calender, but added that the committee is hopeful decisions will be made as soon as possible. A general consensus from the board was that making any changes would not happen for the 2024 school year as it is far too late.
As a non-action item, Ellis and several board members praised the committee for their efforts.
Moving along, Greg Carroll from ARMKO Industries returned to the board to go overall roofing assessments with the board.
In the previous meeting, Carroll shared assessments on several roofs in the district promising warrantee work for the roof at the now empty LIS.
It was reported at the meeting in December that a percentage of the roof issues on the building fell under the ARMKO warrantee and would be repaired and replaced at no cost to the district.
The report looked at the Cactus building noting the building is at least 10 years from needing a new roof. There were minor repairs needed but overall the roof is in good condition.
The administration building is in need of maintenance but is likely three to five years away from needing a replacement. There are currently no leaks reported at the building. Repairs are likely around $25,000 to get the roof into a quality state.
The next update was on the Maintenance and Bus Barn. It is reported as good for another 10 to 15 years. Despite a few leaks, again it comes down to just some maintenance needed on the facility.
The final update was on the Carver building, and it is reported as needing a full replacement. The roof is 30 plus years old, and Carroll reported that if the district plans to keep the building it needs a new roof sooner rather than later. The replacement of that roof would likely be close to $1,000,000 based on current financial projections.
The item was not an action agenda item for the board, so no action was taken on the report.
The board did approve ARMKO to begin warranty work on the now empty Intermediate Building. Carroll reported that it will take about two weeks to get contractors and materials on site and the repair will be at no cost to the district.
It is estimated to be about $70,000 worth of repairs. Carroll stressed the importance of cleaning the roof draining system to allow the roof to drain properly. The board approved the warranty work and Carroll believes they can be started by the first week of February.