A rare no vote on the College Station school board took place at Tuesday’s monthly meeting.
Michael Schaefer voted against the contract to proceed with building CSISD’s tenth elementary school, which was approved by voters in a 2015 bond issue.
Schaefer considered spending almost $2.7 million dollars over the original budget as excessive.
When board member Jeff Harris pointed out savings on other bond projects covered the shortfall, Schaefer said that money could have gone to other needs.
The board was told the general contractor is on the hook if the price tag goes above the ceiling of $27 million dollars.
Superintendent Clark Ealy said there were two factors in the final cost. One was the bids were opened September 7, during hurricanes Irma and Harvey. And there was some inflationary increase because of waiting a year to start construction.
Because of the cost of the main building, there was no money to consider alternate bids to add two kindergarten and two first grade classrooms.
The campus, located at Rock Prairie and Holleman South, is supposed to open for the start of classes in the fall of 2019.
Click below for a summary of comments during the September 19, 2017 CSISD school board meeting.
Click HERE to read and download CSISD background information about the contract.
Click HERE To read and download background information from the general contractor.