JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Officials from the Randolph Field Independent School District have approved a plan for a new high school campus that will be constructed behind the current high school building, which will be demolished once the new school is completed.
Project plans for the new 75,000-square-foot high school complex include 25 classrooms, five science labs, two computer labs, gymnasium, cafeteria, restrooms and administrative offices.
Lance Johnson, RFISD Superintendent, said construction on the new high school is expected to start in early June, with the project being completed in January 2016.
Part of the project's cost is being covered by a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. For the school district to receive the grant, Johnson said the Department of Education stipulated that the current high school building be torn down. The high school building, which was built in 1962, is owned by the Department of Education.
A new high school complex is needed, Johnson explained, because the current high school building constructed doesn't have enough space.
"The building is beyond its life expectancy," Johnson said. "There are space issues there. The size of the classrooms are below Texas Education Agency requirements for a high school classroom. Our corridors are extremely small for student flow.
"We are trying to build a 21st century learning facility," he added. "We are trying to give our kids top-notch facilities because they deserve it."
Dr. Mark Malone, Randolph High School principal, said students and teachers are dealing with cramped conditions at the school, including narrow hallways.
"Our kids have to put their backpacks in the hallway because they don't fit in the classrooms," Malone said. "When you put 400 kids in (the hallway), it's an incredibly small, cramped space. You walk slowly because there are a lot of kids and traffic can make movement slow."
Johnson said the new high school complex will be brought up to Americans With Disabilities Act standards, including the restrooms.
Included in the project plans are the construction of a new cafeteria and gymnasium that will be housed together in a separate 30,000-square-foot building, so it will be accessible to students from Randolph Middle School.
The new cafeteria, which includes a stage, will seat 400 students, exceeding the capacity of the current cafeteria that holds up to 170 students. Since it will include a stage, Johnson said the cafeteria will also be used for school theatrical performances.
Malone said the new cafeteria will have the capacity to serve all high school students for lunch at the same time. Since the current cafeteria doesn't have the capacity to serve all the students at once, he said the school day has to be extended.
With students and teachers having lunch at the same time, it will shorten the school day.
Malone added the new high school building will include eight restrooms, far exceeding the two restrooms at the current high school classroom facility and technology infrastructure upgrades.
The new gymnasium will have seating for 700 spectators and have a curtain that will split the gym in half, Malone said, allowing multiple athletic teams to use the facility at the same time.
Johnson said the current gymnasium, which seats 300 and includes a stage, will not be torn down and will be used by athletic teams from the middle school.
Also, Johnson added, the current athletic facility, which includes the gymnasium, weight room and locker rooms, will remain intact and not be demolished.