Gainesville ISD Files Three Campus Projects Totaling $27.9 Million

Three Gainesville ISD campuses are in line for classroom additions and storm-shelter components under state filings that list the projects at a combined $27.9 million. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation registered the work on May 20 and lists an estimated construction window of May 4, 2026, through Aug. 3, 2027.

The filings cover Edison Elementary School, Gainesville Intermediate School and Chalmers Elementary School, the same three campuses the district's 2025 bond page assigns to Phase 1. TDLR names Gainesville ISD as owner and WRA Architects as design firm on all three, and marks each as involving public funds or public land. The City of Gainesville issued commercial-addition permits on May 29 for 1 Edison Dr., 600 S. Radio Hill Rd. and 2100 N. Grand Ave.

| Campus | TDLR-listed cost | Filed scope |

|---|---:|---|

| Edison Elementary | $13.0 million | 28,902 sq. ft.: eight classrooms, storm-shelter gym addition, interior renovations |

| Gainesville Intermediate | $7.5 million | 10,103 sq. ft., eight-classroom storm-shelter addition |

| Chalmers Elementary | $7.4 million | 10,103 sq. ft., eight-classroom storm-shelter addition |

Edison carries the highest listed cost of the three. Its filed scope runs to about 29,000 square feet and takes in eight classrooms, a storm-shelter gymnasium addition and interior renovation work. The Chalmers and Intermediate additions are near twins on paper, each about 10,100 square feet. NOAA's National Weather Service counts an average of 137 tornadoes a year in Texas, more than in any other state.

Voters approved Proposition A on May 3, 2025, by 829 votes to 707. Trustees had voted that Feb. 10 to seek a $58,833,798 bond issue with a projected tax rate increase of about 14 cents, according to the district's election page. State local-debt records show the approval followed defeated propositions: a $70 million school-building measure in 2021, then two more in November 2023, one for school building and security and one for an auditorium. The last bond the district carried before 2025 was a $29.5 million measure in November 2005.

Callisburg ISD carried three propositions the same May day totaling about $25.2 million, and the vote counts on that district's bond page show each passed by a wider margin than Gainesville's Proposition A. Statewide, the Texas local-debt dataset lists 270 school district propositions in 2025, of which 178 carried.

BTC Construction told trustees on June 15 that Phase 1 billing stood at 2.8% through May and that full permits had been released, with responses to city comments, subcontractor selection and PVC piping installation next. The company's Scott Barnes is listed on the Aug. 17 regular meeting agenda for another Phase 1 update.

For comparison, a prior Gainesville ISD filing with TDLR, for a library addition and renovation at Gainesville Junior High, was listed at $3.9 million. The records differ on one point: TDLR closes the construction window on Aug. 3, 2027, while the district's bond page describes Phase 1 as running through December 2027.