Will the BTW renovations be completed by the start of the school year? MPS hopes so.
The journey toward the new Booker T. Washington Magnet High School has been a long one, but if all goes according to plan in the next few weeks, Montgomery Public Schools officials say the building should be ready by the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
After a fire took down the old BTW building on South Union Street in 2018, the school district purchased the new 18-acre Bell Road campus for $1.5 million.
The projected completion date has been pushed several times over the years. At one point, the new campus was set to open by the start of the 2022-2023 school year. Then, because of supply chain issues and weather delays, the opening moved to January of 2023.
Now, a year after MPS had initially hoped to open the campus, it’s almost ready.
During Tuesday’s school board meeting, MPS’s executive director of operations Chad Anderson delivered a construction update to the board members, saying that contractors are working on site almost every day of the week.
“It's pretty much complete on the inside,” Anderson said. “We're going to make sure that everything is ready. Our architects are staying on top of them. We're staying on top of them.”
The state’s final inspection of the building is scheduled for July 27 — six days before teachers are set to begin professional development for the school year and thirteen days before the first day of school for students.
Once the building passes its final inspection, Anderson said the building will be ready for teachers and staff to move in.
The tight schedule was a concern for some school board members on Tuesday.
“Will BTW be ready? Because I hear these dates, and I’m getting very nervous about these dates,” District 4 representative Cassandra Brown said. “I mean, we're really running down to the wire.”
Anderson affirmed that the contractors have not given any indication that the July 27 inspection would be a problem. Should unforeseen circumstances arise, he said the team is working with BTW Principal Quésha Starks to develop a backup plan.
“As far as our safety issues, if those are addressed, we're going to be happy,” District 3’s Brenda Coleman said. “We want the building to be functional, and we all know that there are nights when some of us will have to roll up our sleeves and pitch in. We don't want it to happen, but we do know that we have a team that's ready to move.”
Anderson said MPS maintenance workers are working overtime to help get the school ready as well.
Recent stormy weather has impacted workers’ ability to finish the asphalt and concrete work outside of the school, but Anderson said that is now about a week away from completion. “Minor work” still needs to be done on the building that will house the magnet arts program and a black box theater, but the cafeteria is completed with all of its necessary kitchen equipment. Some furniture has been installed, and the rest is ready to go.
“I know we’re pushing because it’s so important to us, but we know how hard you’re working and how much you’re getting them to push,” District 5’s Pamela Cloud said. “But we don’t want any side-cuts or anything like that.”
Anderson said he’s confident in the work that’s been completed on the school building, and he knows that the state inspector who covers the Montgomery area will be thorough in his inspection later this month.
“When you're talking about final inspection for life safety, he's not going to compromise anything on that. If there's anything that would cause them to fail, he's not gonna give them an ‘Okay, I'm gonna give it to you.’ They're going to have to come back and reschedule,” Anderson said. “It's going to be tight, but we're working alongside it.”
Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: New BTW Magnet High School readies for the start of the school year
