College Station ISD trustees will be asked Tuesday to spend up to $1.55 million in 2023 bond money to improve cellphone reception inside five campuses where district staff say cellular service is limited or inadequate.
A signal strength assessment by Wireless Services found insufficient coverage in portions of College Station High School, the Career and Technical Education Center, Greens Prairie Elementary, Pecan Trail Intermediate and Wellborn Middle School, according to a memo from Purchasing Director Carmella Shafer. The weak spots were mostly in lower-level areas, large gathering spaces and administrative suites.
The equipment would come from Graybar under a cooperative purchasing contract. Graybar's quotes come to about $1.5 million:
- College Station High School: $459,697.97
- Greens Prairie Elementary: $309,805.78
- CTE Center: $281,634.41
- Wellborn Middle School: $245,142.18
- Pecan Trail Intermediate: $200,948.28
Staff recommend a ceiling of $1,550,000 to cover unforeseen project variables. The purchase is listed as a consent item.
Other items on Tuesday's agenda
- Administrators as substitutes. Trustees will discuss, and could act on, a pilot program that would send central office administrators into classrooms as substitute teachers. A memo from the board clerk says a board member asked the district to explore the idea.
- Custodial pay. A separate item would raise pay for custodial employees by $1 an hour and adjust the custodial pay scale to match.
- Tax levy. The district's 2026 levy comes to $154.0 million at a rate of 97.02 cents per $100 of taxable value, about half a cent below last year's rate because of required compression of the maintenance and operations rate. The total levy is about $6 million higher than last year, mainly because property values grew, Chief Financial Officer Heather Wilson wrote.
- Bond projects. Consent items include $120,449 for a show ring, pens and a wash rack for the livestock arena at the CTE Center, and $162,080 for CME Testing and Engineering to inspect materials on the new central office building and the renovation of the current one.
The board holds a 5 p.m. workshop with annual reports on the bilingual and ESL program and child nutrition, a procurement process report and a State Board of Education presentation, followed by the 7 p.m. regular meeting at 1812 Welsh Ave. Both are streamed live.
