Minutes - Austin ISD

A member asked if there are any advantages or disadvantages in
investing at this time.
o The consultant indicated that this is an excellent time to develop a
solar array, due to costs being low.
A member added that URS assisted the District to prepare a grant funding
request to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) which resulted in
an award of close to $1M in grant funding and in kind-services.
At the conclusion of the Solar Power presentation Curt Shaw, Director of
Construction Management, went on to provide the status of information being
received from the Individual Campus Plans and that 80% of the plans had been
received. He outlined how the plan was to meet with the Associate Superintendents
and begin vetting the requests. He outlined the considerations received to date,
which included:
‣ Space considerations
‣ Educational adequacy
‣ Special Projects
The committee asked if there were any trends noted in the Individual Campus
Plans.
o Mr. Shaw said that Innovation Stations were being requested routinely.
A member asked if the feedback from the vertical teams would be included in
the consideration.
o This information will be included in the process. The hope is to identify
any signature programs that may be possible. This process will be driven
from the top down and the Associate Superintendents will assist in making
those determinations.
o The intent is to provide enough support to make the all the signature
programs equal and perhaps in future bond elections, there may be
focus on specific signature programs.
A committee member asked for clarification on vertical teams and how the
committee would consider each item, and;
With 18% outstanding, it is critical to receive the Individual Campus Plans
from each campus.
o Mr. Shaw indicated staff was contacting each school principal to
complete the Individual Campus Plan.
o In anticipation of items included in the ICPs, staff has set aside a
placeholder in the amount of $30M to address the funding.
A member asked for a report on underutilized schools and justification for
building new schools, when there were schools identified for closure in the
Superintendent’s Facility Master Plan Workgroup.
Also a report was requested on the schools on the closure list and how space is
being used at those schools now.
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