DALLAS (KRLD) - The Dallas ISD school board hopes to make a decision later this month on how to rebuild from the October tornadoes. The school board talked about its options at a meeting Thursday.
The tornadoes October 20 destroyed Cary Middle School and damaged Thomas Jefferson High School and Walnut Hill Elementary.
Dallas ISD will need to rebuild Cary Middle School, but the school board can either tear down TJ High School and rebuild it or renovate the existing campus.
"We have done some pre-design on this work because we're trying to move," Dallas ISD Chief Operating Officer Scott Layne said at the meeting. "It's a marathon, but we're trying to get to the front of the line and get this thing going."
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said he prefers renovating TJ High School. He said construction of new schools to replace Cary Middle School and the high school would cost $200 million; replacing Cary Middle School but renovating TJ High School would cost $130 million.
"The only reason I'm recommending it at this time is that it's less money," he said.
Hinojosa said the district would pay for construction through insurance payouts, existing district funds and a potential bond package expected to be presented to voters this year.
He said he hopes the school board will make a decision at its next meeting in two weeks. Hinojosa said if the board acts this month, the schools could be ready by 2022.
"There is a sense of urgency on many matters, and this is the one that is the most profound," he said. "If there is slippage in the timeline, we lose a year."
Students at Walnut Hill Elementary were moved to the vacant Tom Field Elementary School after the tornado. Dallas ISD plans to transform Walnut Hill to a vocational school.
