SAN ANGELO, TX — The San Angelo ISD Board of Trustees voted Monday to approve two major facilities projects totaling more than $10 million, including a new addition at Crockett Elementary and the demolition of unused buildings at Austin and San Jacinto campuses.
Trustees unanimously approved a $10,328,500 contract with Lee Lewis Construction to add eight classrooms, a new cafeteria with a stage and kitchen, restrooms, and 77 parking spaces to Crockett Elementary. The project will expand the campus by approximately 21,000 square feet in preparation for future campus consolidation.
The expansion contract includes the base bid and two alternates and was the lowest of two qualifying proposals submitted. Lee Lewis Construction also completed the recent expansion at McGill Elementary, district officials noted.
In a separate 6–1 vote, the board approved a $453,800 demolition and abatement plan for Building A at Austin Elementary and Building A at San Jacinto Elementary. Trustee Karla Cardenas voted against the measure, citing safety and communication concerns.
The demolition contract includes a $60,000 contingency and was awarded to Reese Albert Trucking for the demolition and Building Abatement Demolition Company for asbestos abatement.
San Jacinto has been vacant since July 2024, when structural damage was discovered in a load-bearing wall. Students were relocated to Reagan Elementary for the 2024–25 school year. Austin Elementary was also vacated following a merger with McGill.
District officials said delaying the demolition could pose safety risks, referencing past issues with vandalism and deterioration at idle campuses. “That building is not safe and it needs to come down,” Superintendent Dr. Chris Moran told the board.
Cardenas expressed concern about demolishing buildings during the school year while children are nearby, especially at the planned Head Start site at San Jacinto. She also questioned whether parents had been notified in advance.
District officials said communication with parents would begin after board approval, and noted that Head Start families had not yet been contacted because enrollment had not opened.
Moran said demolition is expected to begin before the start of school, pending a required two-week notice to the state. Board members and administrators assured that safety protocols would be in place and that the district would work with the contractor to minimize disruption.
“We feel very good about it, and we’ll make sure that campus is safe and those kids are safe,” Moran said.
Director of Purchasing Jason Henry mentioned that he reached out to Reese Albert and spoke with him personally regarding the safety concerns.
"He said that most likely what he would do is knock the building down after hours or on a weekend, and then pretty much the rest of it is just piling it all up and putting it in trucks and hauling it off," Henry said. "But I did mention to him your concerns; he understood that."
Head Start programming is expected to begin on the San Jacinto site by August 14. Registration begins on August 6.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: