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Facility Advisory Committee

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Facility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes & Documentation

  • West Hardin County CISD Facility Advisory Committee Meeting

    Oct. 24, 2022    |    WHCCISD Cafeteria    |   6:30—8:30 pm

     

    Meeting #3 Minutes

    Attendees: West Hardin CCISD: Dr. Jim Armstrong, superintendent; Carl Price, board member
    Claycomb Associates:   Will Clayton, Kim Hocott

    SAMCO Capital Markets:   Duane Westerman, Nick Westerman
    Committee Members:  Ben Campbell, Bill Campbell, Teresa Camp, Hunter Coutee, Derek Evers, Charla Griffin, John Leslie Hancock, Leisha Marshall, James Merrifield, Jennifer Price, Christi Silcox, Elizabeth Smith, Michael Smith, George Taylor, Kevin Vanya, Jana Watson, Rusty Wells

    Board member Carl Price called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. He welcomed members and expressed the importance of tonight’s meeting as the committee will review the financial side of facility upgrades.

    Kim Hocott shared the objectives for tonight’s meeting and provided an overview of how the meeting would be run.

    Ms. Hocott provided an overview of school finance and how facilities are funded. She reviewed the district’s current tax rate and looked at the tax rate for other area school districts.  

    Duane Westerman, the district’s financial advisor, explained West Hardin CCISD’s bonding capacity. He provided different bond amount scenarios and explained the I&S tax impact for each.

    Ms. Hocott reviewed the committee’s project priorities and rankings from the previous meeting. Based on priorities set by the committee during the previous meeting, Will Clayton shared the anticipated 

    budget cost for the top priorities as ranked by the committee.

    Ms. Hocott had committee members break up into four groups and committee members used project cost information, along with bonding capacity and tax impact, to re-prioritize projects.

    1 = Must Do

    2 = Should Do

    3 = Not for consideration at this time

    Ms. Hocott will take the results and tabulate them for presentation and discussion at the next meeting.

    Mr. Clayton will provide facility master plan scenarios for the committee to consider at the next meeting.

    The committee asked further questions of Duane Westerman regarding potential ballot language and tax impact for various bond amounts. Mr. Westerman said he would consult bond counsel regarding ballot language and that will be discussed by the board should they call a bond election.

    Carl Price closed the meeting by thanking everyone and encouraging them to come back with a friend.

    Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

  • West Hardin County CISD Facility Advisory Committee Meeting

    Oct. 10, 2022    |    WHCCISD Cafeteria    |   6:30—8:30 pm

    Meeting #2 Minutes

     

    Attendees:       West Hardin CCISD:   Dr. Jim Armstrong, superintendent; Carl Price, board member
    Claycomb Associates:   Richard Bain, Will Clayton, Kim Hocott
    Committee Members:  Amanda Brackin, Colten Brackin, Sandra Blackmon, Ben Campbell, Bill Campbell, Teresa Camp, Charlie Caruthers, Hunter Coutee, Nikki Gilpin, Charla Griffen, John Leslie Hancock, Katherine Loftin, Leisha Marshall, James Merrifield, Jennifer Price, Velisha Shoats, Christi Silcox, Elizabeth Smith, Michael Smith, George Taylor, Kevin Vanya, Jana Watson, Rusty Wells, Kristen White

     

    Board member Carl Price called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. He introduced new members and gave a quick review of the first meeting and tour.

    Kim Hocott shared the objectives for tonight’s meeting and provided an overview of how the meeting would be run.

    Dr. Jim Armstrong “Cleared the Parking Lot” by going over answers to questions asked at the last meeting.

    Dr. Jim Armstrong gave a brief State of the District, touching on the following:

    • Accountability successes on all campuses.
    • Successes in the Ag program, including outperforming 6A districts.  A new show trailer just arrived as well.
    • Successes in the UIL program, at both the elementary and secondary levels.
    • Successes in the Athletic program, both in teams and individuals.
    • Music moved down into the elementary campus.
    • State Asst. Principal of the Year.
    • ELA teacher on committee at the State and National level.
    • Finances are very healthy and the district has 5 ½ months of “Rainy Day Fund”
    • Many State and Federal Grants have been secured.
    • Pay scale has been upgraded to be competitive and raised from 20 yrs to 30 yrs.
    • Many Safety concerns have been addressed:  New exterior doors; Access controls at entrance; Key cards at some entrances, with more coming; New Vape detector; New camera system; Will be hosting ALERT Training; Guardian Program in place, HVAC replacements; New LED lighting
    • Dr. Armstrong also informed the committee about the newly adopted Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Motto for the District.

     

    Will Clayton gave a brief summary of the Facilities Study, conducted about a year ago and presented to the WHCCISD Board. Some committee members were concerned that they didn’t know everything noted in the study, so Will agreed to send the document electronically to Dr. Armstrong to post on the website.

    Click here for the WH FACILITY STUDY

    Richard Bain and Kim Hocott had committee members break up into 5 groups and prioritize their facility concerns with the following guidelines:

    1:  Things we must do
    2:  Things we should do
    3.  Things we would like to do
    4.  Things for future consideration

    Ms. Hocott will take the results and tabulate them for presentation and discussion at the next meeting.

    Carl Price closed the meeting by thanking everyone and encouraging them to come back with a friend.

    Meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m.

  • West Hardin Facility Advisory Committee (FAC) Meeting

    Sept. 19, 2022    |    WHCCISD Cafeteria    |   6:30—8:30 pm

     

    Meeting #1 Minutes

     

    Attendees:       West Hardin CCISD:   Dr. Jim Armstrong, superintendent; Carl Price, board member
    Claycomb Associates:   Kim Hocott, Richard Bain
    Committee Members:  Jason Berry, Colten Bracken, Amanda Brackin, Michelle Brothers, Jonathan Brothers, Ben Campbell, Deonna Campbell, Bill Campbell, Teresa Campbell, Charlie Caruthers, Hunter Cortez, Jack Dula, Kaitlynn Ester, Derek Evers, Chelsea Freeman, Charla Griffin, John Leslie Hancock, Danny Kile, Leisha Marshall, James Merrifield, Jennifer Price, D'Wanna Rasnick, Velisha Shoats, Christi Silcox, James Smith, Elizabeth Smith, George Taylor, Casey Trousdale, Kevin Vanya, Jana Watson, RC Wells, Kristen White, Daisy Wilson

    Board member Carl Price called the meeting to order at 6:33 pm.  He welcomed committee members and provided information as to why the committee was put in place.  He stated there are changes needed to be made with facilities and this committee will facilitate the direction the district takes.

    Superintendent Dr. Jim Armstrong then welcomed the group and thanked them for supporting the district.  He is excited about this process and looks forward to the input received. He stressed that there were no “dumb questions.”  He introduced the district personnel and students in attendance, and then had the community members give brief introductions. During introductions, community members overwhelmingly kept mentioning the need for a new Ag Bldg and Safety throughout the district.  Other issues brought up included:  gym updates, tennis courts, car pick-up line, electrical outlets, and transparency.  Over and over, members expressed their love of West Hardin using phrases such as:  Family-Oriented, Community Values, Tightly Knit, Four Towns Coming Together, Hometown Traditions, Small Community.

    Dr. Armstrong introduced Claycomb Associates facilitators Richard Bain and Kim Hocott.

    Richard Bain addressed the committee and explained the role that Claycomb will take as facilitators and information gatherers, but the committee itself will determine the hierarchy of needs to be brought to the board. 

    Kim Hocott reiterated Claycomb’s role and then walked the committee through the folder contents and an overview of tonight’s meeting.  She asked committee members to take notes of facility issues/needs they see on the tour.  She also made sure to point out the future meeting dates and the importance of being committed throughout the process.

    Dr. Armstrong reviewed the 2016 bond list as a starting point for the facility tour.  He also discussed the items that are no longer on the list as a result of repair or replacement after Hurricane Harvey. Insurance money was used for those repairs or replacements.  He then began the tour of facilities.

    AG BUILDING TOUR  - Ag teacher Mr. James Merrifield led the tour of this facility and shared that the program currently serves 95 students. The Ag program is award-winning and a point of pride for the district

    During the tour, Mr. Merrifield pointed out the following:

    • Currently serving 95 students
    • 3 major projects (trailers) in the works
    • Not enough floor space
    • No air flow and dangerous fumes (both lab and classroom)
    • New welding techniques are difficult due to limited space
    • Poor insulation
    • Roof leaks in some areas when it rains

    MIDDLE SCHOOL GYM TOUR - Athletic Director George Taylor led the tour and pointed out the following:

    • Major safety issue:  doors must be open for air flow since there is no AC; floor also gets slick from humidity due to doors having to be open
    • Boys locker room is in sad shape, with only 1 toilet and inadequate locker space (serves 30-50 kids)
    • Boys locker room used to be a maintenance storage room
    • No laundry facility
    • Exposed wiring along ceiling

    CAMPUS TOUR - Elementary principal Teresa Camp and Maintenance/Transportation Director Elizabeth Smith led the tour pointed out the following:

    PK-1 Wing:

    • Major issues with foundation, with cracks on exterior and interior walls
    • Bathroom is sinking (due to foundation) and creates backing up of toilets
    • Windows are single paned and not sealed
    • Boys restroom – urinals do not work and smell is in the foundation
    • Carpet needs replaced but can’t without asbestos abatement

    5th-6th Grade Wing: 

    • Lights shine through the walls of adjacent classrooms due to cracks in wall from foundation issues
    • AC units have major condensation issues with pipes sweating; causes ceiling tiles needing to be changed frequently and increased utility costs

    2nd-3rd Grade Wing: 

    • Windows are old and thin.  Due to age of windows and poor insulation, one side of hall will be extremely cold and the other extremely hot
    • No major structural issues

    Middle School Wing:

    • Designed before AC was available; AC was installed later
    • Not enough outlets; not designed for today’s digital age classroom; must run extension cords across classrooms to help accommodate multiple plugs
    • In classrooms, exterior walls get very hot due to poor insulation

    The group returned to the cafeteria to wrap up the meeting. Trustee Carl Price once again expressed his appreciation to everyone for coming and encouraged everyone to come back and bring a friend or two.

    Dr. Armstrong introduced another student who showed up during the tour (Kaitlynn Ester).  He also reminded the committee that the Waste Water Treatment Plant was required due to TCEQ.  He also mentioned the new track and elementary playground was a result of insurance money after Harvey.

    Several committee members had comments following the tour, including these issues:

    • Ag needs to be priority due to air quality
    • Restroom at football field has bad air quality
    • Ag needs to be done now and not later
    • A low cost air unit was recommended to be installed in the Ag classroom to alleviate the air quality issue
    • Doors open at Middle School Gym is a big safety concern.  AC needs to be installed
    • One committee member requested a list of how and where money has been spent on repairs since Harvey

    Dr. Armstrong reminded everyone of the upcoming meeting dates.

    Dates for remaining meetings:

    Monday, October 10, 2022, 6:30—8:30 pm

    Facility Assessment findings and how it relates to the District’s instructional program

                   Monday, October 24, 2022, 6:30—8:30 pm

                                 Financial Advisor and discussion of needs/prioritize needs                     

    Monday, November 14, 2022, 6:30—8:30 pm

                                 Reach agreement on proposal and draft recommendation for Board consideration

                    Date TBD, 6:30—8:30 pm (if needed) to finalize recommendation for Board consideration

     

    Meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m.

    Committee Handouts for 9/19/22

    Facility Tour Notes  

    Facilities Research  

    FAC Meeting Schedul;e  

    Exit Ticket 

WHCCISD Facility Booklet