Palm Beach County schools get first repairs; here's what's ahead

Now comes the hard part. The Palm Beach County School District has completed 17 projects promised as part of the one-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2016. Still to come: the most complicated construction challenges, including rebuilding Addison Mizner Elementary School in Boca Raton at a still-to-be-determined site.

The district’s initial projects included a new roof at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach, paving at Del Prado Elementary in Boca Raton and athletic field lighting at Spanish River High in Boca Raton. Most projects were finished last summer but some have been ongoing, such as replacement of an air-conditioning chiller at Hammock Pointe Elementary in West Boca, which was completed this month.

Other projects will prove more complex, needing time to set up contracts, coordinate with local governments and arrange schedules so workers don’t interrupt classroom instruction, said Wanda Paul, facilities management chief.

“We’re on an aggressive schedule,” Paul said. “You’re going to see a lot more activity. We have 10 years to complete these projects, and it’s not going to take that long.”

The one-cent sales tax lasts for 10 years and is expected to generate $1.3 billion, with half going to schools and the other half funding projects in the county and local cities.

Several projects are currently underway, including restroom renovations at Del Prado. And many are in the planning stage, such as new air conditioning at Calusa Elementary in Boca Raton, and bigger projects including a new high school west of Boynton Beach and a new middle school next to Sunset Palms Elementary, also west of Boynton Beach.

Some projects have proven controversial. A plan to move 50-year-old Addison Mizner Elementary to Sugar Sand Park encountered protests from neighbors. The city of Boca Raton offered land for a temporary site for Addison Mizner students as their school is rebuilt, but a new site for the school is still being negotiated.

The district has also bought 157 new school buses; 127 are already on the road. The others are expected to arrive within the next month. Here are the projects that