The following is the third in a series of questions being presented about the upcoming DeLeon ISD bond issue that will be on the May 12 ballot. The response for the questions will be provided by Dr. Randy Mohundro, Superintendent of Schools for DISD.

Question - “A new high school cannot possibly be constructed during a 2-3 month summer break. How and where will high school classes be conducted if we are going to tear down the existing building?”

You are right it is not possible to construct a new 40,000+ square foot building in just 2-3 months. The time needed to see that type of project to completion will be approximately 12-14 months, and that depends on the weather during construction.

A plan has been developed to have school during the construction period so that all students in the high school can go to school on the secondary campus with the least amount of distraction as possible.

The current high school consists of thirteen different classrooms and the library. Currently the district is using a portable building behind the existing high school that will not be needed next school year, which has two classrooms that are available. The ag/vocational teachers have graciously agreed to move their classrooms to the shop during the construction period, which will then allow their classrooms to be occupied by other teachers during the project. The building that is currently used for the tax office and houses the secondary reading program will be reconfigured to allow three teachers to occupy that space.
There are classrooms that are not used during certain time periods because those teachers are out of the classroom for other duties and responsibilities. Those empty rooms will be used by teachers on a floating basis. The lobby of the new gymnasium can be used for a classroom by at least one classroom teacher utilizing the tables that are housed in the lobby on an ongoing basis.

The high school office will be located in the middle school building in the office space that originally started out as the principal’s office when the building was shared with the superintendent.

The counselor for grades 6-12 will be located, along with student records, in the current distance learning lab. A new distance learning set-up has recently been installed with a grant the district has received in a different part of the building, so any classes that utilize that equipment, college credit classes in particular, will not be interrupted.

This school year a major project has been the establishment of a free standing library in the middle school. This improvement will allow that facility to temporarily serve both the middle school and the high school during the project. Additional shelving from the high school will be temporarily relocated to the middle school library to house those books which will be for the use of high school students only, as appropriate.

Will this plan be a perfect solution? The answer to that is simply, “No.” In a situation like this there are no easy solutions. The good news is that the district and the administration has been looking at this possibility and has a tentative plan to implement. That does not mean the plan will not have to be monitored and changed to fit the given situation. However, that is what is done daily in the regular course of having school without a major construction project. The key is to begin with some type of plan, but be ready to admit when something needs to be adjusted for the entire system to operate.

“Are we the first school to go through something like this?” No, many schools have to go through this type of situation. Those schools are in communities that care about their children and are concerned about the quality of their school facilities. A plan has been developed and the district is ready to move forward.

Thanks to Milton Allred for this question. There are others that have been submitted and will be addressed in coming weeks. If you have questions you may send them to the Free Press or directly to Dr. Mohundro.