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(GISD | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Members of the Facilities Planning Committee met Wednesday, March 18 to discuss project cost estimates, the district’s bond capacity, toured Graham High School and heard presentations regarding fine arts, safety and security and maintenance and transportation.
As the Graham ISD Facilities Planning Committee continues its efforts to chart the future of the district’s campuses, the group recently discussed construction estimates for potential projects.
One of the topics of the committee meeting Wednesday, March 18 was project estimates and pricing. Project estimates were presented by Lane Pendleton and Beverly Fornof of Corgan and Bowie Franks of Gallagher Construction Company.
From the initial planning to the opening of the project, the process can take from 2.5-3 years with planning from 4-6 months, design from 8-12 months, construction from 12-18 months and opening from 1-2 months.
A facility condition index was shown to the members with 0-10% showing the facility to be maintained with routine maintenance, 10-30% showing average condition with improvements and upgrades suggested, 30-50% showing major system improvements needed, 51-65% showing significant repairs required and 65% and higher suggesting replacement may be more cost-effective than repairs.
The campus ratings on the index were 85% for Woodland Elementary School, 59% for Crestview Elementary School, 51% for Graham Junior High School, 42% for Pioneer Elementary School and 35% for Graham High School.
The estimated project costs for the Pioneer Elementary School were $15,900,502, for Crestview Elementary School were $28,135,397, for Woodland Elementary School were $31.006,552, for GJHS were $34,673,412 and for GHS were $26,730,473.
With all facilities included with suggested repairs, the total district repair cost would be $163,179,604, which includes the GHS field house, GISD baseball and softball fields, AG project center, administration building, Graham Learning Center, the special programs building and the maintenance building.
These cost estimates are being presented so the GISD Facilities Planning Committee can choose the direction it wants to present to the GISD Board of Trustees in May.
The committee is working to study the facility needs across the district and is meeting monthly to help develop a long-range facility plan for the future.
The GISD Board of Trustees met Oct. 8, 2025 and approved forming an over 50-member Facility Planning Committee appointed by the board and campus and district administrators to develop a five-year district Long-Range Facility Plan.
Facilities Planning Committee Co-chair Courtney Bennett spoke with the school board Wednesday, Jan. 14.
“I personally feel like we have failed as a community. We have failed our teachers and our students. We have let buildings sit for years and years with minimal updates and upgrades, and it’s just a shame,” Bennett said. “I think Graham is so much better than that, and that’s why I really do feel passionate about this. I feel like we need a plan. We don’t need to be reactive.”
