Lakeland shoots for August 2017 middle school opening

Lakeland will open its new middle school in August 2017, an entire year earlier than originally planned, if all parts of the building project continue to line up correctly. Dr. Ted Horrell, Lakeland School System’s superintendent, proposed the timeline change at the Feb. 1 school board work session, saying that the project to date has been successful in hitting the necessary benchmarks.

The change has been under cautious consideration for a long time, and a meeting with the design team last week clinched the decision.

The board cannot vote on actions at a work session, but board members reacted positively. The timeline change is expected to be on the agenda at the Feb. 8 school board business session.

Horrell said he has remained in close contact with Arlington Community Schools Superintendent Tammy Mason about the possible date change.

LSS currently has an interlocal agreement with ACS to educate the Lakeland district’s middle and high school students, so any changes to where Lakeland middle-schoolers will attend class would affect Arlington’s plans.

“I’ve talked to her a number of times about that, so this will not come as a surprise to her or at this point to her school board,” Horrell said.

The timeline

Stewart Smith, a senior architect with A2H architectural and engineering firm in Lakeland, provided the project timeline:

• Feb. 4, 2016 — Start of a pricing exercise with construction documents to gain a good understanding of where A2H is in the cost estimate of the project. This will take several weeks.
• Feb. 25, 2016 — A2H will deliver design documents along with cost estimates for review and approval by a March 1 target date. With approval, A2H will continue to work on the construction document phase. A2H will have a package to the state fire marshal for his review. Advertisements will be published for the bidding process to begin.
• April 18, 2016 — A building site package will go out for bid. There will be a pre-bid meeting to discuss the nuances of the project.
• May 9, 2016 — Acceptance of bids. The design team, Horrell and SES representatives will review the bids and make a bid recommendation.
• May 17, 2016 — Approval of the selected bid, followed by negotiations with the contractor.
• May 31, 2016 — Construction begins.
• June 1, 2017 — Estimated date for “substantial completion.”

Smith said, “Certainly, we’re doing what we can to make this happen. It’s certainly achievable. … We feel pretty confident we can make this happen.”

The quick start on the site work bid (particularly if a site pad is in place when the building site bids are accepted) is a major factor in the confidence that A2H and Horrell have in moving up the school opening date.

Doug Burris, senior vice president and partner at Renaissance Group architectural firm in Lakeland, said that a structure of the school’s size typically has a 12-month construction time, including site work.

“With that part being done, hopefully, by May 1, then a June start for just the building shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.

Burris said his estimation assumes that weather cooperates with the construction schedule, there are no major hold-ups, and the building contractor doesn’t see any issues with the timeline.

But he added, “We feel very comfortable about this schedule.”

If the project does have delays, there are options that would allow the opening to remain in August 2017, Burris said, such as focusing on the academic areas before work on the gym.

Dr. James B. Mitchell Jr., a founding partner with the school district’s education consulting firm, Southern Educational Strategies LLC, said there have been other cases where schools were not quite finished when the school year began, but they were finished enough that the district could obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy, get the fire marshal’s signoff, and safely bring students and personnel into the school. He also said the district will not need space for 900 students the first day the new middle schools open.

“So there are options,” Mitchell said. “Be assured that we are going to expect the architects and engineers are going to be monitoring that closely.”

Other business

In other business, the school board also:

• Heard a spring registration update from Horrell. Students new to Lakeland will have registration night on March 29. Returning students will have an entirely online registration process. There will be a traditional registration date in the fall when parents are required to provide proofs of residence as usual.
• Was advised that TNReady testing starts next week. TNReady is the state’s new and improved TCAP test for English language, arts and math for grades 3-11.
• Discussed key legislation that the school boards wants to support or oppose.
  A core message throughout the discussions was the board’s and the superintendent’s strong preference for local control rather than state mandates. A legislative agenda will be up for discussion at the school board’s business meeting on Feb. 8.
• Discussed possible names for the district’s new middle school.

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Written by Carolyn Bahm, Express editor. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to bartlett.editor@journalinc.com.