As Spring ISD gears up for another new school year, many projects continue to move forward with the 2022 Bond. With multiple aspects – including safety and security updates, new school buses, technology upgrades, and maintenance projects – along with two major building projects, the 2022 Bond is a big undertaking.

Many of the projects are already underway, along with design and permitting of both the new Spring High School campus and the Education, Performance and Instruction Center. But what does the future look like for these projects?

For Spring High School, which was one of the biggest aspects of the bond proposal, things are steadily moving along, with a projected opening date of summer 2028.

“For Spring High School, we’ve already started the process,” Joanis Riebl, Project Manager with Spring ISD, said. “We’re in the middle of design. We’ve met with community members, and we’re in what’s considered design development, a stage of design. We’re continuing to meet with community members and school leadership to determine the needs of this campus and its students.”

From there, the design plans will be shared with the Spring ISD Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting at the beginning of the upcoming school year. In November, the “guaranteed maximum price” will be determined as part of the process, followed shortly by a preparation of the new site of the campus along Riley Fuzzel Road with clearing and utility installation.

As of right now, the building will include a natatorium, an ROTC building, a connected ninth grade center, football fields (both turf and grass fields for practice), fields for baseball, softball, and soccer, a theater, and an indoor venue for athletic events and other activities. The plan also currently calls for a district-level track, so all high schools can do track and field competitions on the site.

The current site is around 200 acres. The site features many trees, and since the building will only take up a portion of the site, the plan is to maintain many of the existing trees for aesthetic and noise-canceling purposes.

The building phase is set to begin in summer 2025, with around three years of construction.

The other major construction project is the Education, Performance, and Instruction Center, a facility designed to hold up to 5,000 people for performances, graduations, and other district events. 

“We are still in design development for EPIC, but we are further along,” Riebl said. “We’ve already been to the board, and they’ve seen the layout. We’ll give them another update in September, with a general idea of what’s going to be in the building itself.”

Geotech engineering has already begun on the site, which helps determine soil and rock mechanics and informs the eventual construction. Groundbreaking and construction should begin on that project in the spring of 2025, and last through the spring of 2027. 

“There’s four elements in the space,” Riebl said. “There’s the arena, which is meant for events like graduations or teacher convocation. There will be 4,000 fixed seats, with an option to add 1,000 more on the floor. This area could also be for trade shows, or athletics events. It has a lot of flexibility.”

The other spaces include a 1,000-seat performance hall, with a traditional stage and seating in front of it. In addition, a 200-seat hall for recitals or educational events will be included, along with two smaller multipurpose rooms for general meetings.

The entire building, which will face the Randall Reed Center on the Planet Ford Stadium site, is set up to work in tandem with that space to create multiple functional and adaptable spaces for gatherings. 

“One of the benefits with this layout is you actually have a really large lobby, so that can kind of turn into another reception space,” Riebl said. “We are also keeping the Veterans Memorial there, so there will be a nice synergy between the EPIC and the Randall Reed Center. If you’re having a large event, both spaces could be used and the outside area could also be activated.”

Other aspects of the Bond include ongoing projects with campus refreshes and upgrades.

“Last summer, we did paint refreshes at several campuses,” Riebl said. “This year, we’re doing paint and new flooring at nine campuses.”

The schools getting new flooring are: Claughton Middle School, Heritage Elementary, Hirsch Elementary, and Lewis Elementary. Cooper Elementary is getting a paint refresh. And the schools getting new paint and flooring are Bammel Elementary, Bammel Middle School, Jenkins Elementary, and Smith Elementary. All nine campuses will be completed by the start of the 2024-25 school year.

A large part of the bond also includes high-priority maintenance projects at all campuses. High-priority projects may include upgrading HVAC systems, repairing roofs, and updating electrical and plumbing systems. These projects not only improve the learning environment but also promote energy efficiency and cost savings in the long run. 

“We’re going to replace 32 chillers across 18 campuses,” Riebl said. “And then we have building automation controls, which is what controls your AC, what controls your lights, at 18 other campuses.”

A full-list of these projects can be found online. Those projects are scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2025-26 school year.

Other projects feature security and safety updates, which are set to include camera upgrades, fence improvements, and installing a remotely lockdown system. The first phase will include upgrades to exterior doors, as well as the installation of impact-resistant glass. Phase two will feature fencing improvements. These projects will take place on every single campus. Some of the improvements, including the impact-resistant glass, will be in place by the start of the 2024-25 school year, while the larger projects will be installed by the start of the 2025-26 school year.

Students will also have upgraded transportation to and from school, with 60 new buses set to begin coming in starting in September. That will include 25 traditional buses and 35 special needs buses. 

Finally, technology upgrades will continue to be rolled out over the course of the next few school years. That will involve the upgrading of outdated technology at campuses and facilities across the district, including instructional technology in classrooms and technology in school theaters.

With a bond project as large as this one – with $850 million in improvements – the timeline for completion is measured in years, with the final project, Spring High School, set to debut in 2028. But as the district continues to make progress on all of the projects, it will continue to gather ideas and feedback from the community. 

“A big part of this process is community involvement,” Riebl said. “This was approved by the community, so we are really striving to include them at every step of the process, and to take into account what is needed by our students, teachers, and community members.”

For updates and more information on the 2022 Bond, please visit www.springisd.org/bond.