On April 17 at the monthly regular board meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the Guarunteed Maximum Price for renovations to the current Pecos Kindergarten facility to become the new home of the District’s daycare center. This project is the last project included in the May 2021 Bond to receive Board approval to mobilize construction.
The PBTISD Discovery School was created in 2018 to address the lack of daycare options available in the area for District employees. The creation of the daycare allowed employees to have high-quality, affordable, play-based care and worry less about where their children would go while they worked. The Discovery School serves children from 6 weeks of age to Pre-Kindergarten and after-school for children up to 9 years of age.
“The Discovery School is a great benefit PBTISD is able to provide our staff with,” said Superintendent Brent Jaco. “We are very excited for these renovations and expansion of the daycare program to take place. Many know the ability to find quality child care in the area is difficult, and we are so happy to continue providing this option to support our staff in PBT.”
With the passing of the May 2021 Bond, dollars were allocated to revamp Austin Elementary’s 3rd-grade wing into the new daycare facility for the District. However, shortly after passing the bond, Reeves Regional Hospital and the Town of Pecos City reached out to the District about partnering and developing a daycare that would support the staff of all three taxing entities. In the coming year, while the facility is being renovated, work will begin on a Memorandum of Understanding and appropriate pricing for the daycare facility with all entities.
The total projected construction cost for the renovations of the new facility is $16,019,088.00. The new Discovery School is expected to be completed by August 2024.