CISD board gets first glances at renovations to Old Yoe
The Cameron ISD Board got a first glance at what a renovated Yoe High building would look like during a meeting on May 10.
The board and administration heard from Huckabee Architecture about plans for renovating the old Yoe High building to house CTE courses and administration.
Representatives from Huckabee were on hand with a slideshow displaying renovations and what each floor could be used for.
They said that the participation from the community on this project was amazing and this is the culmination of the results of that input.
“When we met with the parents, students and staff we got thoughts on what was wanted and this is the accumulation of that,” Huckabee said. “We looked at what made sense to be in this 100-year-old building.”
The programs that will be housed in the building are health science, criminal justice, education, computer science and business and finance, along with administration.
“We took this space and we ended up creating blocks of what areas will be used for,” they said. “We focused on the front plaza and making it have more of a grand entrance with the Yoe symbol in pavers in the front along with a century tree. That will symbolize the rebirth of the building.”
Moving to the inside, administrative offices will be to the right when you walk in along with a meeting area with professional development space to the left. The health science classrooms with a mock hospital room will be in the space on the first floor where the boiler room and theater arts used to be housed. An elevator will also be added to the building for access to upper floors. That bottom floor will be raised up and there will be glass to see into the lab space.
There will be access to the building from the cafeteria side of the high school. The elevator will be close to the existing building. This will give students direct access to the CTE building.
The new building will be ADA compliant.
The second floor will house the education pathways classrooms with space for mock classrooms and the criminal justice classrooms with space for a forensics lab and a crime lab. In the center the auditorium will be restored to its original set up with space for a café and flexible seating around the perimeter. That space can be used for board meetings and other public meetings. They are proposing lowering the stage area to only be about 18 inches in height.
On the third floor there will be more collaborative space along with classroom space for business and finance and computer science with a networking room for students. The upper seating for the auditorium will also be restored. The original seating will be used as much as possible with matching new seating.
“We just want to bring that back to its original state,” they said. “It will also be used as a historical space with photos and memorabilia.”
“There is a lot of flexibility in this and it can be changed for future needs,” they said. “The spaces are all adaptable.”
The plan is to keep the important historical look of the building but move into the future. Adaptable spaces will offer opportunities for dual credit courses and courses that can be offered for adult education as well as community engagement.
The renovations are expected to bring a bond in the cost of $12.8 million. The district has not decided to call for a bond yet, they will discuss that option and other funding options at future meetings.
The board also heard from Superintendent Kevin Sprinkles about ESSER III Federal Grant funding. CISD is expected to receive around $5.2 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan.
One area the grant would address is student learning loss due to COVID-19 and the second area would address the safe re-opening of the public school district. The application also deals with other areas related to COVID-19 issues such as retaining employees, operational needs of the school district due to COVID-19 issues, and teacher support.
Sprinkles said the funding would likely be used to replace some HVAC systems to allow for better filtering and air flow and will be used to address retention of staff due to loss of enrollment during this time.
He said the district would be careful about what the funding is used for, so that it is not used for something that needs to be sustainable.
The board also approved work to begin on the Yoe High Gymnasium. Work has already started on repainting and floor resurfacing in the facility.
The also approved the addition of a new alternative education program to give students the ability to work towards graduation in different ways. The program will allow students to learn online. This gives students who may not be on a traditional path a way to complete their high school education.
Yoe High parent Carolyn Hux spoke during open forum about the potential for an update to the dress code pertaining to hair length for boys.