Lake Travis school board gets updates on gym addition, career programs

Architects working on Lake Travis High School’s new gym and fine arts complex addition presented their preliminary design plans to the Lake Travis school board on Wednesday.

The addition is predicted to take eight to 12 months for permitting and an additional 18 months for total construction. The complex will feature a turf field for the school band to practice on, a gym that houses a volleyball and basketball court and a multipurpose facility that seats 2,500 people that can be used for concerts and other events. The facility will be three stories tall and will be linked to the main campus by an annex.

The board voiced concern for Americans with Disabilities Act-accessibility given the size of the space as well as parking availability. Jeffrey Floyd, director of design at Claycomb Associates, which is taking on the project, said they intend to include accessible seating in every corner of the seating areas, along with elevators throughout. Given that the complex will be built on what is currently a parking lot, the design plan also involves the addition of approximately 350 parking spots.

The meeting also featured an update on the district’s Career and Technical Education program, which allows middle school students to earn high school credits and high schoolers to become certified in a variety of fields to boost their career post-graduation.

“The goal is to get an industry-based certification within each (study) program,” said Lori Wristers, coordinator of career and curriculum.

For fields of study such as exercise science with no approved certifications within the district, the board recommended that schools guide students toward places where they can get alternative certifications while the program is still being developed.

“Not every child is going into college and so to have the opportunity to provide them paths to get to where they can graduate with certifications and have jobs … does a lot for our community,” said Board Member Kim Flasch.

Currently, the program offers approximately 130 CTE across different fields of study and plans to build up to 25 industry-based certifications by the spring, Wrister said.

During the meeting’s public comment portion, Lake Travis parent Jennifer Fleck spoke against the district's book review process. Fleck spoke of her unsuccessful attempt to ban the book “Bodies Are Cool,” which features images of gender change surgeries and scar tissue that she said is inappropriate for elementary school children to access.

Currently, the school district's book review process consists of a book reconsideration form, which goes through the principal of the school and up to the district if escalated.

“This district justifies keeping this book about horrific things that people choose to do to their bodies, that is now illegal in Texas,” Fleck said.

The content of books within school districts in the state of Texas has been a common theme throughout the year, with House Bill 900 making headlines. The bill, which will take effect on Jan. 1, will provide a standardized set of guidelines on what is considered explicit content as well as what vendors school libraries are allowed to deal with.

Fleck said she was told by the district the book was kept in elementary schools to allow children to implicitly challenge societal norms.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lake Travis school board gets updates on gym addition, career programs