Contractor assures Beeville school board new campus will open on time

Contractors building the new consolidated Beeville Elementary School campus assured local school board members recently that construction remains on schedule for the upcoming school year, directly addressing social media rumors alleging of project delays.

William Berzins, project manager for general contractor SpawGlass, addressed the Beeville Independent School District Board of Trustees during its regular meeting on July 16 to clarify the site’s status following online commentary questioning the timeline.

"The board is not lying to anybody. They’re just giving information to the public," Berzins said. "At the end of the day, if you would like to accuse anyone ... it’s going to be SpawGlass, not board members. They've only been honest."

Berzins emphasized that the construction team remains fully committed to completing the campus in time for the district’s fall opening. To meet the deadline, crews have been working seven days a week, with Berzins noting the only day off the team took in the past month and a half was July 5.

The $62 million voter-approved facility will consolidate and replace the aging Fadden-McKeown-Chambliss (FMC) and R.A. Hall Elementary campuses.

Board President Orlando Vasquez expressed appreciation for the contractor's transparency and extra labor efforts.

"I know there's testing of different things that go on, that sometimes people will look at it and say, 'Oh, there's a problem,'" Vasquez said. "But the reality of it is, we know that there's a lot of things that are still going on that only construction folks know. We, too, want to get the school open on time, get our kids and teachers in there and move forward."

Addressing visual concerns from community members passing the construction site, Berzins explained that high-visibility exterior and interior finishes are intentionally scheduled for the final weeks of construction. He noted that roughly 12 to 15 different trades are working simultaneously on delicate final touches, such as wood panels, metal work and flooring, that must be installed at the very last minute to avoid damage during heavy construction.

Despite the heavy workload remaining, Berzins outlined several major construction milestones recently completed across the property. Main entry driveways along Huntington Drive as well as the south and east parking lots are fully paved, and exterior lighting systems are already installed and operational. Steel support columns for a long covered canopy along the south side of the building are in place to shield students during rain, and framing for the outdoor shade structure is complete with shade material installation underway.

Progress is moving equally fast inside the facility, where structural ceiling grids and acoustic wall paneling in the cafeteria are complete following passed electrical inspections. Kitchen equipment installation is mostly finished; basketball goals are installed in the gymnasium, and carpet installation has begun in administrative offices. Additional concrete pours for perimeter sidewalks on the south and east ends of the property were scheduled to wrap up through the weekend.

Contractor assures Beeville school board new campus will open on time

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