Architectural firm hired by Bridgeport Independent school district

Published Thursday, April 24, 2008

By Chris Butler

The Bridgeport Independent school district will use an Abilene-based architectural firm to build a new school if residents vote in favor of a future school bond election.

Members of the school board voted unanimously Monday to hire the CADCO Architect-Engineer firm to design a new school. Representatives from CADCO made a presentation to the board Monday, as did representatives from the Dallas-based Claycomb and Associates and the Dallas-based NR2 firm.

Board member Scott Stowers, who made a motion in favor of hiring CADCO, said he was impressed with the company and the presentation its employees made.

The Bridgeport school district needs more classroom space to hold a growing number of students, and a committee of 30 people is deciding how best to handle the problem. The committee's findings could result in a bond election to pay for a new school, although Superintendent Eddie Bland said such an election probably won't take place this year.

Bland announced in December that schools in the district are growing at an average of about 1 percent a year. Bridgeport High School is at or near full capacity as a result, although Bridgeport Middle School still has space for more students, he said.

The district had 2,117 students for the 1999-2000 school year, but what Bland calls a "very rough enrollment projection" shows that number will increase to 2,425 students by 2015.

While the elementary school is new, Bland told board members last year that the district should consider building either a new intermediate school for third through fifth-graders or a new high school. The district could also add new classrooms to the buildings that are already in use, he said.

The district couldn't construct a new intermediate school without expanding the current high school to hold more students, Bland said. Growth in the district is happening at a moderate pace, and the board of trustees at least has enough time to manage it, he added.

The rising number of students has grown at about one percent a year since the early 1970s, as more people move to the city, Bland said.

Class-sizes at elementary schools in Bridgeport are limited to about 22 students, while high school classrooms are limited to about 25 students, Bland said. The district so far hasn't had any difficulty staying within those limits, he added.