Education
BY HALEY VELASCO
Friendswood ISD working to resolve reproo ng issues for new PAC
How we got here
At the March 4 FISD board meeting, to nd a solution, Greg Prince, an architect for PBK, which is overseeing the construction, reached out to multiple sources to ensure the re safety at Friendswood High School’s PAC was satisfactory. He said at the board’s meeting he contacted the International Code Council, an organization with building safety professionals, and its re protection engineers to see how a re would act in the building. One of the main concerns within the district was the timing of the results of this inspection, as the project is expected to be completed soon. “Originally when this building was permitted over two years ago, those [ reproo ng] comments weren’t there, so now that we have the comments with the Performing Arts Center nearing completion, the ability of the contractor to go back and add that reproo ng is exponentially more di cult,” Prince said at the meeting. Kabiri and other o cials with the city, however, pushed back on those comments and said in a series of emails that reproo ng has always been a requirement for the PAC, adding nothing had changed. He put it on the contractor, saying they did not meet the requirements. “City sta is currently working with [Roher] and the architect in securing an alternative solution,” Kabiri said in an email. “However, the reproo ng requirement is not new.”
Following issues concerning reproo ng at Friendswood ISD’s new Performing Arts Center at Friendswood High School, o cials from both the district and the city of Friendswood have con rmed they are working toward a solution. This comes after meetings in February between project o cials and the Friendswood Fire Marshal’s O ce. Fire marshal o cials relayed concerns about the building not meeting the re code that was agreed upon with the city of Friendswood, City Manager Morad Kabiri said. The PAC has been undergoing construction since 2022 and is expected to be completed later this spring, FISD Superintendent Thad Roher said in an email April 1. To x the reproo ng de ciency, Roher said in an email the district will continue to adjust to meet the re code based on the direction they have received from the Fire Marshal’s O ce.
The Performing Arts Center did not meet reproo ng requirements in February.
COURTESY FRIENDSWOOD ISD
PAC Timeline
Project started: Spring 2022 Fire code meeting: Feb. 7, 2024 Project scheduled for completion: April 26, 2024 SOURCE: CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, FRIENDSWOOD ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
What it means
“All new buildings and renovations in FISD will meet the re code per the Friendswood Fire Marshal’s
According to the original plan agreed upon by the district and city, the PAC requires one hour of re resistance in several di erent areas of the structure. Kabiri said the requirements can be met through methods like spray-on, or paint. Kabiri also said, as of February’s re code meeting, the contractor had not met any of the one-hour requirements. However, with this project being ongoing, it’s possible many of these items have been addressed since.
O ce upon completion to assure students, parents and sta safe and innovative new places to learn and grow.”
THAD ROHER, FISD SUPERINTENDENT
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