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This chapter reviews facilities use and management in the Mt. Pleasant Independent School District (MPISD) in the following sections:

A. Facilities Planning and Construction
B. Maintenance
C. Custodial Operations
D. Energy Management

BACKGROUND

A comprehensive facilities, maintenance, and energy management program coordinates all the physical resources of a district. The program must effectively integrate facilities planning with all other aspects of school planning and operate under clearly defined policies and procedures.

The facilities use and management function is responsible for ensuring that district facilities are designed and built in a way that enhances the educational process and meets other needs, such as maintaining equipment in peak operating condition; providing a clean school and working environment; ensuring that facilities comply with local, state, and federal building regulations; and minimizing the district's utility costs.

CURRENT SITUATION

MPISD owns and operates 13 facilities within the district (Exhibit 5-1). Total square footage for all facilities is 796,388.

Exhibit 5-1
MPISD Facilities
  Capacity
Facility Age (Years) Square Footage Number of
Students		 Number of
Classrooms
Mt. Pleasant High School 34 257,711 1,500 92
Mt. Pleasant Junior High School 1 100,029 775 39
Wallace Middle School 29 112,042 850 50
Corprew Intermediate School 47 94,149 750 60
Fowler Elementary School 50 48,042 475 35
Sims Elementary School 49 44,692 440 32
Brice Elementary School 34 42,684 400 29
Child Development Center New 48,500 375 22
Central Services Building 71 17,320 25 offices, board room,
executive room,
and community room 		N/A
Tax Office 23 4,750 Offices N/A
Brice Gym 42 12,922 Gymnasium N/A
Warehouse 71 9,416 Warehouse N/A
Special Education Building 23 4,131 Offices N/A
Total   796,388    
Source: MPISD deputy superintendent of Administration and Operations.

All MPISD facilities are at least 23 years old with the exception of Mt. Pleasant Junior High School and the Child Development Center, which were constructed in 1996-97 and 1997-98, respectively. The fire marshal of the City of Mt. Pleasant cited the district for numerous code violations during a 1997 inspection. Making the needed repairs will cost MPISD $169,898 (Exhibit 5-2). The district is correcting these violations in phases agreed to by the city. Corrective action will be completed by the end of 2001-2002.

Exhibit 5-2
Code Violations and Costs of Repairs at MPISD Facilities
Phase/Year Types of Violations Estimated Cost of Repairs Cumulative Estimated Cost of Repairs
Phase I/1997-98
(completed) 		Fire alarm systems, fire lane widening, exit door lights $43,667 (actual cost) $43,667
Phase II/1998-99 Fire extinguishers and hoses, removal of locking door devices, fire alarms, exit and emergency lighting $68,227 $111,894
Phase III/1999-2000 Door hardware, exit and emergency lighting $29,556 $141,450
Phase IV/2000-01 Door hardware, exit and emergency lighting $15,198 $156,648
Phase V/2001-02 Door hardware $13,250 $169,898
Source: Correspondence date July 28, 1998 from MPISD superintendent to city manager of Mt. Pleasant.

On February 6, 1990, September 22, 1992, and December 15, 1992, MPISD held bond elections to construct new facilities and renovate some existing facilities. The size of the bond packages were $9,897,956, $7,000,000, and $7,000,000, respectively.

In each instance, the voters refused to authorize issuance of additional debt. According to interviews conducted by the review team with community members and responses by focus group participants, the primary reasons for the defeat of the bond issues were:

  • Retired persons living on fixed incomes in MPISD did not want to see their taxes raised.
  • Many community members believe that new facilities are needed primarily to serve Hispanic students whose parents have been brought in by the Pilgrim's Pride Company to work in their various plants in the area. They did not want to build schools just to serve these students.
  • The district did not "sell" the district's facility needs effectively. Several community leaders indicated that the last election was rushed to the community for vote without sufficient information and communication provided to the community.

The district has grown by 5.2 percent since 1993-94 and has added portable classrooms (Exhibit 5-3), or constructed or renovated a series of its buildings since that time (Exhibit 5-4).

Exhibit 5-3
MPISD Portable Buildings by Campus
1998-99
Facility Number of
Portable
Classrooms		 Percentage of
Classroom Space
Mt. Pleasant High School 0 0
Mt. Pleasant Junior High School 2 5.1%
Wallace Middle School 6 12.0%
Corprew Intermediate School 0 0
Sims Elementary School 4 12.5%
Brice Elementary School 4 13.7%
Fowler Elementary School 6 17.1%
Child Development Center 0 0
Total 22 6.1%
Source: MPISD deputy superintendent for Administration and Operations.

Exhibit 5-4
MPISD Major Facility Construction and Renovation Projects Since 1995
Location Type of Renovation Cost
Fowler Elementary School Replacement of wooden floor with concrete floor $550,000
Fowler Elementary School Roof replacement $70,000
Wallace Middle School Roof replacement $400,000
Mt. Pleasant High School Roof replacement $500,000
Corprew Intermediate School 12 new classrooms, library, cafeteria, and office space $2,800,000
Administration Building Conversion from high school to office space $850,000
Mt. Pleasant Junior High School New construction $6,000,000
Sims Elementary School Construction of special programs building $225,000
Child Development Center Renovation of former store $3,000,000
Source: Mt. Pleasant ISD.

To pay for these new facilities and renovations, MPISD has used three methods:

  • The district entered into a lease purchase agreement with Nations Bank. This agreement allows the district to borrow money at 5.5 percent interest and repay it over a 10-year period. This agreement paid for the Mt. Pleasant Junior High School and the Child Development Center.
  • The district used some of its available fund balance for the renovations to Corprew Intermediate School, Central Services Support Building, and Sims Elementary School.
  • The district budgeted funds in its maintenance budget to pay for renovations at Fowler Elementary School, Wallace Middle School, Corprew Intermediate School, and Mt. Pleasant High School.

The district has completed these projects using outside contractors as well as MPISD maintenance staff. Whenever a project is determined to be too large for MPISD maintenance personnel to complete, an outside contractor is used. The total costs of contracted services related to facilities construction and renovation projects for 1995-96 through 1997-98 are described in Exhibit 5-5. The construction costs in 1995-96 and 1996-97 reflect the building of the junior high school and the addition of classrooms at Sims Elementary School. The construction costs in 1997-98 reflect the building of the Child Development Center.

Exhibit 5-5
MPISD Contracted Services for Facilities Construction and Renovation Projects
1995-96 through 1997-98
Type of Service 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98
Roofing/construction $257,557 $16,216 $326,572
Carpet/lockers 0 0 $38,332
Electrical/lighting/HVAC $22,553 $921,218 $75,569
Professional services (e.g., architect) $253,131 $59,202 $134,854
Construction $3,194,599 $3,428,866 $2,192,814
Supplies $25,347 $17,997 $204,753
Landscape/sprinklers $238 $36,189 $714
Asbestos removal $17,707 0 0
Other contracted services $12,097 $17,257 $756,052
Total $3,783,211 $4,496,945 $3,729,660
Source: MPISD Business manager.

The district's enrollment projections are compared to actual enrollment data in Exhibit 5-6 for

1995-96 through 1998-99. The exhibit also includes projections through 2001-2002.

Exhibit 5-6
MPISD Actual and Projected Enrollment
1995-96 through 1999-2000
Year Projected Enrollment Actual Enrollment Variance Percentage Change in Actual Enrollment from Prior Year
1995-96 4,250 4,316 +66  
1996-97 4,274 4,394 +120 1.8%
1997-98 4,311 4,445 +134 1.2%
1998-99 4,501 4,463 -38 0.4%
1999-2000 4,607 - - -
2000-01 4,615 - - -
2001-02 4,650 - - -
Source: Mt. Pleasant ISD.