'Ahead of the curve'; Some Bay District schools are getting renovated, expanded this summer

BAY COUNTY — Many of Bay County's schools may start to look a little different when students return this fall.

Bay District Schools officials said construction and renovation projects are underway at multiple schools across the county.

These projects will improve — and in some cases grow — each campus. BDS Executive Director of Facilities Lee Walters said school officials are reaching the point of winding down repairs to buildings after Hurricane Michael, but with all the new growth in the county, they are constantly adding more projects to their list.

"From a department standpoint, the facilities department thought right after the hurricane, we thought this is our mountain to climb. Let's get to the top of this mountain and then we can catch our breath a little bit," Walters said. "But the redevelopment in Bay County has been so tremendous that it's just continuing on."

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The projects are funded by multiple different sources, including FEMA, Half-Cent Surtax, and Local Capital Improvement Funds.

BDS officials said they are working on a complete list of projects that will be made available to the public within the next week.

Staying ahead of Bay's growth

Since Hurricane Michael hit the county in 2018 and forced thousands to evacuate, many previous residents have begun the steady migration back to the area over the last few years.

Walters said BDS has been staying on top of the growth, having county officials keep them in the loop about where the growth is happening.

"Basically, wherever the subdivisions are going, wherever houses are coming online, we're comparing that to what the enrollment is in each individual school," Walters said. "We're ahead of the curve is what we're trying to say. So, if we know we've got a subdivision that's coming online and the houses are being built and bought quickly, then we know the kids are coming and we're responding to those trends and that's where we're at in the classrooms as needed."

Two major examples of this are Merritt Brown Middle School and Deane Bozeman School.

The two Panama City schools are seeing major growth surrounding them and will see another building added to both of their campuses.

"Probably the largest (expansion project) that we're getting underway is up in Bozeman. We've got, I believe, 24 classrooms up there, two stories of classroom additions," Walters said. "We started doing the preliminary, we moved portables to house some of the students that were in the area."

Walters said this project will take over a year and a half to be completed.

Over at Merritt Brown, it's a similar story, says Walters.

"We've got a similar project, a two-story classroom. I believe that one is 20 classrooms," Walters said. "That'll be taking place at Merritt Brown. That is also in response to the growth, especially along the 231, Star Avenue corridor there."

Along with these two schools, Walters said they also have expansion plans in the future for three schools located in north Panama City — Highland Park Elementary, Southport Elementary and Northside Elementary.

"All of those are gonna be in the neighborhood of eight to 12 classrooms as well," Walters said. "We're trying to use a scalable floor plan and we can build it according to the growth trends of each individual school in their enrollment."

Upgrades and renovations

Along with expansion projects, Walters said there will be multiple schools seeing renovations and upgrades.

Bay High School has the biggest project on any BDS campus, adding a STEM building and Barbara W. Nelson Fine Arts Center building. The $20 million St. Joe Community Foundation STEM building was debuted in February, showing off thousands of dollars worth of lab and robotics equipment.

The $13 million fine arts building is set to be completed by February of 2023, said Walters. The auditorium will include over 700 seats, attached drama labs for classrooms, oversized monitors for increased visibility, and a larger foyer area for community events and displays.

BDS also has some other fun projects in the works too, said Walters.

"We've got playgrounds, we got a really nice big playground at Hutchison Beach (Elementary). That's a summer project," Walters said. "Then we've got another one that's on order, it's supposed to be here before the end of the summer at Tommy Smith. We just finished one at Callaway Elementary."

Other projects include an additional parking lot for Washington Academy and several roofing upgrades for all of the schools on the beach.

The return of Oscar Patterson Academy

Oscar Patterson Academy is set to reopen in the fall after being closed for nearly four years due to Hurricane Michael's destruction.

Throughout the spring, Oscar Patterson officials have amped up community excitement and involvement for their long-awaited return to Glenwood. Officials held a logo-making contest back in February, awarding the honor to Jinks Middle School student Emma York.

Walters said they are on track to have Patterson open by the fall.

"Patterson's a big one, we actually expect our first load of classroom furniture in two weeks," Walters said. "So, we'll start the interior furnishings. We've got a few air conditioners that are on backorder. We are supposed to have those by the end of June and will still track to be in good shape with that as long as they get here on time."

As they have worked to reopen Patterson and tackle other projects, officials have dealt with the frustration of inflation and supply chain issues. Walters said it has caused them to change their entire method of planning for projects.

"(The air conditioners for Patterson) were actually promised back in April, so we're definitely having supply chain issues. We've changed our method of procurement from the standpoint of when we order items," Walters said. "Used to you could anticipate, 'Okay, this is something that's a four-week lead time, this is a six-week lead time.' At this time once the project starts, we're basically ordering everything, just because it's not coming in on time."

As BDS officials work to complete projects and make way for new ones, Walters said residents have been mostly excited about the improvements.

"I think everybody, for the most part, is pleased that we're trying to keep up with where the students are," Walters said. "Some areas would like us to build a little quicker than others, but you gotta consider the overall picture and that's what we've done. So I think, for the most part, we've had a positive reaction.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay District Schools officials announce renovation, expansion projects