2025 Bond Home

High School - During the summer months, we began preparing the interior site of the high school campus - moving all of the utilities. Now, we are excavating soil in preparation for the 4-foot substructure that will form the foundation of the new construction. With the majority of the canopy system gone, we also built a temporary canopy walkway to protect the students and staff during inclement weather.

Hutchins - Concrete was poured for the beams on August 13th, which is phase one of the dual pad foundation. Once the entire pad is poured, we will begin erecting the steel in early September.

High School - utilities have been rerouted, and the contractors have removed the walkways and the buildings scheduled for demolition during Phase 1.

May 1 - The Hutchins campus is nearing the end of a 4-foot subsurface of select infill. Once that is complete, the next phase of Hutchin’s construction is the foundational work of grade beams, reinforcing steel, and pier steel. You should see progress on all of these fronts in the upcoming weeks.

The Hutchins design is in the final stages, and the classroom addition will be out for bid real soon. Our goal will be to take an action item to the board to accept bid proposals before the end of May. 

The high school subcontractors for the utilities and “make ready” Phase 1 package have been awarded contracts. Next, we will begin moving utilities and setting the foundation footprint. The high school will follow a similar process used at Hutchins, removing 4 feet of soil, which will be replaced by select fill for the foundation construction. We plan to begin that work the week following graduation. 

The high school classroom addition is nearing its final schematic design stage. Our goal is to have plans ready for bid in the late summer to early fall.

May 4 - The high school's new construction project will begin the week following graduation. The first order of business will be to relocate utilities, fire and safety communication, and the Internet. 

When the utilities have been rerouted at the high school, the contractors will begin removing the subsurface and replacing it with select fill. The project will include approximately 90,000 sf of new construction, including general classrooms, fine arts (band, choir, dance), culinary arts, a new cafeteria, kitchen, library, special education, and administrative offices. Some building demolition will occur. 

The new building is in the final stages of schematic design, including building materials, colors, and finishes. Once this design is complete, drawings and construction documents will be sent out for bid. By the fall, we expect the board to take action on a Guaranteed Maximum Price. 

For the 2026-2027 school year, the high school campus will be in a modified form, but it will be ready for students in the fall. The central part of the campus, between the science building and the auditorium (N to S); between the library/C building/auxiliary gym and the A building (E to W); and the area between the A building and the competition gym will be a construction zone.

May 8 - Backup Utility Constructors, owned by El Campo graduate Jerry Shelton Jr. and his crew, have been hard at work preparing the construction pad at Hutchins. We are nearing the end of pad work and preparing for concrete and steel.

May 27 - The Board of Trustees approved the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) of $15, 434,017 for Hutchins construction. See the Final Digital Material Board Submission presented to the board at the meeting. Hear the discussion in the May 27, 2026, Special School Board Meeting Recording.

April 10 - We are still in the final stages of document production for the elementary building construction. That is also the case for the high school utility package. Although there is work being done at Hutchins, it is all foundational.

April 17 - We have completed our early release package for the high school construction. During the summer, we will move utilities and prepare for the new high school construction that is set to begin in the fall of 2026.

If you have driven by Hutchins Elementary recently, you would have seen the ground preparation for the foundation. Select fill is being used to replace topsoil and prepare a strong foundation for future construction. The final design is being incorporated into construction documents. Once the foundation and steelwork are complete, we will begin to see the brick-and-mortar design come to life.

April 23 - The board passed the early release, make ready, and demolition package. This will prepare the high school for the next phase, which will begin the construction of the new high school campus.

March 5 - We have begun the exciting construction process at Hutchins Elementary. Following spring break, access to the Avenue I pick-up and drop-off lane will change from Empire Street to parents entering the parking area from Avenue I. Watch for details from Mr. Burton.

And we are in the early stages of preparing the bid package for the high school construction, which will address utilities and the foundation. Once this package is complete, we will begin the final construction documents for the campus construction. Work at the high school will begin during the summer months.

March 20 - Hutchins construction is underway. Polasek Construction and the subcontractors are completing some underground storm sewer work and transportation bypass access. When the building's foundation work begins shortly, the gymnasium will be built in the area where the north driveway near Empire is located. We are also in the final phases of producing the interior and exterior design bid package. Once those drawings are complete, we will begin seeking bids from subcontractors. 

At the high school, we are working to complete the bid documents for the Phase I early-release package. This package primarily concerns the relocation of utilities. The high school construction will be more intricate, as the new facility will be enclosed within the quadrangle at the center of campus. While construction is underway, the high school will continue to provide all of our current programs on the periphery of the construction site. We are planning to move the utilities during the summer, when students are not present.   

March 26 - Installation of the storm sewer at the Hutchins Elementary campus is nearly complete, and Polasek is beginning work on the footprint for the new construction. We appreciate everyone’s patience as the city has been working on infrastructure repairs along Avenue I, which have overlapped with the school construction. It appears the city is mostly complete with the sewer work on Avenue I between Roberts and Empire. Soon, our construction will be the only project underway. 

Related to the actual Hutchins building, we are in the final stages of document production for the two additional classroom wings, the gym, the library, and the admin area. Shortly, the bids for the school construction will be accepted. When the final drawings are bid, Polasek will be able to provide a GMP (guaranteed maximum price) for the elementary school.

Once the elementary process construction begins, we will repeat the same process for high school construction. Utility work is expected to begin in June.

February 6 - The two Bond 2025 construction projects continue to progress. Work at Hutchins will begin soon along Empire between Avenue I & K. When that work begins, the entrance off Empire will close, and access to the pickup/drop-off area will move to Avenue I. 

At the high school, groups from AEP, Center Point Energy, YK Communications, along with district personnel and Polasek Construction, have developed a phasing plan for the movement of utilities. That work will begin this summer, immediately after graduation, and ensure that El Campo High School is capable of supporting the school in the fall. Construction of the new facility, in the interior of the high school, will begin in the fall. 

February 19, 2026 - El Campo ISD officially broke ground on Thursday, February 19, 2026, on a significant expansion at Hutchins Elementary, marking the start of construction on the new addition. This vital project, funded by the successful Bond 2025 referendum, will replace outdated classrooms and provide modern facilities that enhance our Ricebirds' learning environment.

District leadership, Board Members, faculty, and community stakeholders gathered to commemorate this milestone, a crucial investment in El Campo's educational infrastructure. The new addition is anticipated to be completed by August 2027.

We extend our gratitude to the El Campo community for their ongoing support of El Campo ISD's mission to provide exceptional educational opportunities.

February 25, 2026 - Board Update Presentation (see the recording of the live presentation and discussion)

January 9 - Parkhill & Polasek continue to work closely with the district in preparation for groundbreaking for the new construction on the Hutchins Elementary site. The construction will build two academic wings, a gymnasium, and a front office area to serve a three grade level campus. The 2014 addition will remain as part of the campus. Hutchins will remain an active instructional campus throughout the construction which will occur on the north end of the campus near Empire Street. More information will be provided.

An early release package for site, utility, and foundation work was advertised and released recently. The community will see activity on the Hutchins site prior to spring break. 

The high school construction is also in the production stage. Campus design and preparation for site & utility work has begun. Much of the utility & site work will begin during the summer of 2026.  

January 16 - The district and Polasek Construction opened bids for the Hutchins Early Release package. These bids include: site and concrete work, construction steel, and utilities. We will take the bids to the board for the January 28 meeting. The bids came in within budget so we are excited to have the bids approved and begin the construction process.

On the high school front, we are in the early stages of design for the new high school construction. Next week we will begin meetings with core groups of the high school staff. Their input will be used for the design of several major facets of the construction - cafeteria, fine arts, culinary, and special education. Our goal will be to begin utility and building footprint construction work in the summer of 2026. 

January 22 - Work has begun on the high school construction project. We are excited to begin the construction planning. The actual construction will begin during the summer. This will require the high school to make plans to hold summer school off the high school campus. And, the construction may alter the student travel flow and class changing procedures when the internal area of the high school is under construction for the new facility. The total construction project should take approximately 24 months to complete.

January 30 - Hutchins Elementary early package release #1 was approved by the School Board on the 28th with a guaranteed maximum price of $4,150,000. See the recording of the presentation and discussion.

December 9 - Progress continues on the design of the elementary and high school campuses that were approved as part of the district’s $81M bond. 

As we move into the spring semester, construction documents will be put out for bid by Polasek Construction. The elementary campus will be bid first while Parkhill continues to work on the more difficult high school design. Our hope is the high school bid packet will be released shortly after spring break.

December 17 - A report on the elementary construction project: we are at the very very final stages that Polasek construction will be sending out advertisements for bids. When those bids come in, then we will go through the bids and our plan is to bring to the board it's guaranteed maximum price by the January board meeting and once a guaranteed maximum price is determined then we can break ground. In addition, we we passed the Davis Bacon Wage Act back when we hired Polasek, so, we are continuing with that same process as we move into finding subcontractors. Regarding the high school construction project, we are really kicking into high gear for all of the initial phases of moving all of the utilities, gas, water, electricity.

Our plan would be to do most of these transfers of utilities during the summer which would not impact kids. Then of course next year we would be starting the construction process. But before we even get there, we still have to do the all of the construction documents, put everything out for bid, get the bids back, come back to the board with a guaranteed maximum price. So, we are now at the high school where we were at with Hutchins back in September. That's where we are with the high school, and we are now in the final stages of Hutchins before we break ground and start, probably right after the holidays. 

November 6 - The progress toward designing the elementary campus classroom wings at the Hutchins campus continue to progress. Before we finalize the drawings and put them out for bid, Parkhill Architects and Engineers in collaboration with Polasek Construction have come up with an Opinion of Probable Costs for construction, demolition, and furnishing the campus. Based on the OPC estimates, we remain within our budgeted scope.

October 16 - Work continues with Parkhill Architecture & Engineering for elementary and high school design. The district is also working with Polasek Construction on construction cost estimates. We are pleased to report that our plans remain on schedule to break ground at the elementary school before spring break. This is an aggressive timeline made possible by the exceptional work from both Parkhill & Polasek.

October 23 - The district is still actively involved in planning for the elementary construction project from Bond 2025. The architectural firm has solidified the drawings, and Polasek Construction is seeking preliminary construction costs to ascertain that the district is within budget. The final documents will be produced once the final budget estimate is complete. 

October 31 - This past week, the board approved the elementary construction design. If you are interested in more detail, view the recording of the presentation and discussion.

September 18 - We are in the middle of planning and designing the new elementary school construction. Our plans are focusing on the campus footprint, and planning details are about the size of spaces and building materials. Further down the road, details will be our next hurdle to clear.

September 26 - We are well into our plans for constructing our elementary school addition on the Hutchins Elementary site. The district has worked with representatives from our elementary staff, the district facility committee, and the campus and district administrations. We have compiled all of the input and presented it to Parkhill Architects and Engineers and Polasek Construction to develop an elementary campus footprint.  This plan was presented to the board as Phase 1 (link to file) and was approved. See therecording of the presentation and discussion.

July 23 - The Generalized Plan for Implementation of the Bond 2025 Construction Plan was presented to the Board of Trustees. See the recording of the presentation and discussion.

May 14 - Board of Trustees approved order canvassing returns and declaring results of Bond Election. They also approved the recommendation of the selection committee for architectural and engineering services of the 2025 Bond Program and authorize the Superintendent to enter into contract negotiations with the top-ranked proposer. See the recording of the presentation and discussion.