The Luling (Texas) Independent School District is ready to begin construction of a new Shanklin Elementary School.
The new facility will encompass about 86,000 square feet and will replace the existing Luling Primary and Leonard Shanklin Elementary Schools. Consolidating the two schools into a single campus will enable the district to reallocate the maintenance and operation dollars now being spent at Luling Primary School to other uses.
“The district has done an amazing job with facility maintenance; however, our current elementary is over 50 years old and we have been fighting a losing battle,” said Luling Superintendent Erin Warren.
Luling is about 40 miles south of Austin.
The $23.6 million elementary school building is scheduled to be completed in March 2021, according to a news release from Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, program manager for the Luling district's bond program.
The two-story facility, which will accommodate 800 students from pre-K to fifth grade, will have 41 classrooms, two playgrounds, a gymnasium, media center, cafeteria, kitchen and administrative suite.
The elementary school also incorporates several life-safety and security enhancement measures to resist potential active shooter intrusions, including:
- Bullet-resistant glass at areas of high visibility from the exterior.
- Recessed doorways leading to the classrooms; this will pockets of visibility protection as opposed to long uninterrupted corridors.
- Vehicle barricades at main entrance.
- Secondary, end-of-corridor security vestibule in addition to the one at the main entrance to the administrative suite, using access control hardware.
- Perimeter fencing to surround the property where new playgrounds are situated.
- Adjoined classrooms and breakout rooms that enable student movement between classrooms out of the corridor sight lines.
The new Shanklin is being constructed as part of the district's $31.9 million bond program that was approved by voters in May 2019.
Other elements of Luling’s 2019 Bond Program include renovations at Gilbert Gerdes Junior High School and conversion of the existing elementary school into a new staff and visitor parking lot.
The architect for the new school is Claycomb Associates Architects, and the builder is Weaver & Jacobs Constructors.
