At its Dec. 16 meeting, the La Porte ISD Board of Trustees approved the replacement of Bayshore Elementary School, which has been closed since September after sustaining damage during Hurricane Ike.

  The Board first voted unanimously to replace Bayshore rather than repairing the current facility.  This was followed by a unanimous vote to construct the new facility at a different site, with trustees authorizing Superintendent Lloyd Graham to negotiate the purchase of property, subject to Board approval.  The Board specified that the new location should be west of Old Highway 146/Broadway, east of new Highway 146, north of Shoreacres Blvd., and south of Fairmont Parkway.

  Bayshore students have been relocated to five different LPISD elementary campuses since the district's schools reopened on Sept. 29.  Construction of the new facility is expected to be complete in January 2010.

  Also during the meeting, the Board approved PBK Architects, Inc., to provide architectural/engineering services for the new school and Tellepsen Builders, LP, as construction manager at-risk for the project.

  According to Graham, the district examined several options in deciding whether to repair or replace Bayshore.  At the Nov. 11 Board meeting, trustees approved the selection of Tellepsen and PBK to provide services for the estimation of repairs needed at the school. 

The estimate included repairs necessary due to Hurricane Ike as well as required Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and replacement of mechanical and/or building systems at the practical ends of their life cycles.  The cost for repairing Bayshore would be around $8 million, while the total cost of building a new school would be approximately $18.5 million.

  Because students will not be in their new facility until January 2010, Graham explained that most Bayshore students will remain at their current host site until the new school opens.

  "We want our Bayshore students to be able to stay where they currently attend school until their new facility is completed," Graham said.  "Therefore, we will shift our grade levels at the host sites rather than move our children to another different campus before the new Bayshore opens in January."

  For example, Bayshore first graders who currently attend school at Lomax Elementary School will remain at Lomax for second grade during the first part of the 2009-2010 school year.  Other host schools for next year include La Porte Elementary, prekindergarten; Heritage Elementary, kindergarten and first grade; Rizzuto Elementary, third and fourth grades; and College Park, fifth grade.

  Students in Bayshore's four-year-old Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) will join the five-year-old PPCD program at La Porte Elementary for 2009-2010.

  In addition, the district is offering transfer opportunities to Bayshore families with two or more children assigned to different elementary schools.  Acknowledging the difficulty that assignments to different schools cause parents,  the district will accept transfer requests from parents (or those standing in parental relation to a student) so that siblings will attend the same school until the new Bayshore opens.

  Beginning Jan. 5, transfer request forms may be picked up from the receptionist at the LPISD Central Administration Building, 1002 San Jacinto St.  Completed requests should be returned to the office of Isela Montes, executive director of elementary education, by Jan. 9, 2009.  Transfer requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis, with parents notified no later than Jan. 15.

  The district must adhere to student-to-staff ratios when making the decision to place siblings in one school; therefore, parents will be unable to request the school to which their child/children will be transferred.  Transfer students will be withdrawn from Bayshore and enrolled in the "transfer to" school.

  The current placement of students also will be considered, and parents must provide transportation.

  For more information, contact Isela Montes at 281-604-7030.