After voters approved the larger part of a half-a-billion-dollar bond package last year, North East Independent School District is taking big steps in delivering on more than 70 proposed school improvement projects.
Last week, the NEISD school board approved a five-year implementation plan of its 2025 bond with a long list of architectural and engineering firms hired to work on projects that would enhance safety and security, technology, infrastructure and athletic facilities.
NEISD’s master project list prioritizes chiller replacements, sunshade structures and safety technology upgrades at several campuses. Projects with the least priority include things like new vehicle purchases, indoor and outdoor lighting replacements and roof maintenance.
Deb Caldwell, chief operations officer at NEISD, said projects were prioritized based on “safety, urgency, code compliance going down toward cost, procurement, feasibility and schedule efficiency.”
Of the $483 million, $457.9 million will go toward actual construction costs. The rest of the funds will support project management, internal costs for the district’s own team of engineers, and “global contingency funds” for unforeseen costs such as tariffs and inflation of materials.
Having already kicked off the process in December, NEISD is in contract negotiations for R22 chiller replacements and a new districtwide telephone system. Later this school year, district staff will start the “planning phase” for upgrades to the security perimeter fence at LEE High School, ISA High School and Jackson Middle School, a sewage replacement system at Tejeda Middle School and sunshade structures at all seven of its comprehensive high schools.
NEISD also plans to create an online dashboard to keep the public informed of progress on individual projects, said Jorge Cabello, executive director of the district’s construction management and engineering department.
Cabello, who put together the master schedule, said the school board will have to review and approve schematic designs, as well as permission for the district to go to bid and final acceptance for every bond project.
The master schedule only includes projects in the highest priority groups. It kicked off the 2025 bond timeline in December, starting with planning phases, and wraps at the end of 2030, including warranty phases for each project.
“This is looking at our bond program from 30,000 feet up,” Cabello said.
What exactly did voters approve?
In November, NEISD went out for a $495 million bond package that included five different propositions. Most of the bond package passed, unlocking just under $483 million for propositions A, B and C.
Proposition A got over 60% voter approval and funds HVAC renovations and chiller replacements, updated cybersecurity measures, library and plumbing renovations, new school buses, new police vehicles and new fire alarm systems.
Proposition B focuses on technology upgrades like replacing teacher and student laptops, and was approved by 56% of voters.
Proposition C passed with 50.1% of the vote, which pays for upgrades to the district’s athletic facilities and replacing old equipment.
Voters rejected the two smallest bond measures that would’ve paid for upgrades to NEISD’s stadium and natatorium.
Who gets paid for bond projects?
To qualify for NEISD bond projects, Caldwell said firms had to meet several requirements: having a local presence for at least two years, committing to staying in Bexar County for the next six years, being professionally registered, carrying liability insurance and having at least seven years of experience working with schools.
From more than 70 applicants, the district selected 12 firms to lead architectural design, eight to consult on mechanical, electrical, publishing and engineering and six to consult on civil engineering.
Some of the most expensive projects, worth over $20 million, were given to firms like Pfluger Architects, Inc., Cleary Zimmermann Engineers and Halff. Some firms are named more than once across the different project areas, which became a point of debate during a Feb. 23 meeting where Cabello asked the board to approve the list.
Approving the list in a 4-1 vote, board member Tracie Shelton was the lone “no” vote. Two other members, David Beyer and Diane Villarreal, were absent.
Shelton, who represents NEISD’s single member District 2, said her community was skeptical of the bond because those taxpayer dollars “don’t flow back out to the community.” Shelton raised concerns that the district mostly hired firms its worked with in the past, shutting smaller and more local businesses out.
“It is incumbent that they look beyond the traditional group of folks so that they are giving other people an opportunity to these taxpayer dollars that we are all footing the bill for,” Shelton said during the meeting, adding that she plans to continue bringing this point up throughout the bond implementation process.
Cabello’s response was that smaller firms may not have qualified to work on bond projects because they didn’t meet the seven-year minimum of experience working with schools, but that the district has smaller maintenance projects that those firms can apply for.
“That’s one way I see of implementing a strategy to bring in new talents, working on maintenance and operations projects that are just as important to the district and just as critical,” he said.
