Wylie South Elementary will finish roughly $4 million under its construction budget, trustees learned at the Wylie ISD board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The savings on the new campus stand out against a less welcome update at Wylie High School, where an unexpected easement delayed the classroom addition by up to two months. Construction officials told the board the wing won't be ready until Christmas 2027 at best, with a worst-case timeline stretching into summer 2028.

All three projects are part of the district's $298.1 million Growth Management Bond approved by voters in November 2023.

Wylie South: savings pile up

Students moved into Wylie South at the start of the 2026-27 school year after the building received its certificate of occupancy before the school year began. Contractors are now finishing items that surface during a building's first year of use.

Construction representatives told trustees the $4 million under-budget figure could improve further as final expenses are settled. Several contingency items built into the original budget were never needed.

Wylie High: easement pushes classroom timeline

The Wylie High School update marked a significant shift. At the Aug. 10 board meeting, Superintendent Joey Light said classroom completion "sometime during the first semester appears more realistic" than the original October target. One month later, that estimate slipped again.

Construction officials said a previously unknown easement inside the construction area prevented the district from obtaining a city permit. Resolving the legal issue cost roughly a month and a half to two months.

Principal TiAda Radtke told the board Wylie High has approximately 1,670 students, with about 953 participating in athletics. Crews are working in tight quarters while classes, practices and Friday night events bring thousands of people on site.

Construction officials said safety around students and staff remains the priority. Work may pause around major events. Steel construction will have to go up in sections because there isn't enough staging room.

The band hall renovation is complete. Work continues on the addition, and baseball and softball facility upgrades are underway with completion anticipated around early December.

Wylie East Intermediate: ahead of schedule

Work at Wylie East Intermediate has moved to interior finishing and exterior details. Construction officials told trustees the project could wrap up ahead of its scheduled March completion date if no major problems arise. Very little of the project's contingency money has been spent.

AV equipment approved

Trustees also approved audiovisual equipment packages for both Wylie High and Wylie East Intermediate through the TIPS purchasing cooperative, a group-buying program that lets the district work with vetted vendors.

The Wylie High package totaled $587,302, about $31,000 above its original estimate. The East Intermediate package came in at $200,271, more than $80,000 below budget. Combined, the two packages are roughly $49,000 under their joint estimate.

Bond finances

Superintendent Light, presenting the monthly financial report in the absence of Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Bristow, said the district has issued approximately $190 million in bond funds and earned about $9.4 million in interest. About $104 million remains for ongoing bond work.