Superintendent Nola Wellman brought an update of potential bond projects to Eanes School District school board members at a morning study session Dec. 7 to help move the process closer to a decision on whether to put a bond before voters in 2010.

“We’ve been discussing the master plan and bond projects for over a year now,” Wellman said. “We’ve had numerous community forums as well as a bond advisory committee. The bond advisory committee gave their report to you in November when we were still working on some of our numbers and projects.”

District business services head Larry Keiser and maintenance and operations head Les Reddin gave board members a fresher look at the district’s latest idea for projects and estimated costs. New projects for board consideration included lighting and restrooms at the district’s two middle schools, the career and technology program at Westlake High School and special education programs, including the 19-Plus program.

“As we continue to refine our numbers, we are adding in some of our soft cost numbers,” Reddin said. “Those numbers continue to evolve.”

The latest cost estimate for items under consideration for a future bond is $142 million, including the $99 million worth of projects recommended by the bond advisory committee, new special education program changes, soft costs and items considered high priority by administrative and teaching staff, but not included on the bond advisory recommended list.

Wellman asked board members to study the bond recommendations and let her know which projects they consider critical and any questions they have about the proposed projects.

“This is the time to make your own notes and ask questions and to make sure that you are comfortable (with the information) and that you have all your questions answered,” she said.

Wellman said the administration is still in the process of defining costs on many of the projects under consideration. Board president Jim Strickland said the board would schedule two extended discussion sessions in the future to study the bond projects.

Key to the final determination of costs for upcoming facilities will be a decision as to how to update the Eanes Elementary School campus, one of the highest price tag items still left to be determined.

Board members at the study session listened to a 40-minute presentation of an 18-page report put together by a group of 16 parents at Eanes Elementary School with a clear idea of how they wanted the remodeling of the oldest district elementary school to take shape.

Local architect and Eanes Elementary parent Juan Miro presented the report to the board and handled questions with the help of two other Eanes Elementary parents, John Havenstride and Colleen Jones.

“We believe that the character of the school has to be preserved while we move forward,” Miro said. “We think that is something we can do while, at the same time, acknowledging that there are a lot of needs this campus has – to bring this campus to the modern standards of education and technology. We think we can accomplish that without compromising what makes this campus special, like its historical significance.”

Miro acknowledged the need for more square footage on the campus, the need for more flexible space and improved security. He said he felt that the district and the group of active parents are very close in vision for the future of the elementary school.

“There was a misconception among many parents that the district wanted to bulldoze and demolish the whole campus,’ he said. “We understand now that wasn’t the case. At the same time, there was a misperception in the community that the parents had taken a position that we don’t need to touch Eanes Elementary. Just leave it the way it is.”

“We found that we had lots of common values,” Wellman said. “We found that we all had students at the top of the list.”

Miro said his group of parents plans two Eanes Elementary community forums at the school presenting information, one on Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. and the second on Feb. 4 in the morning.