SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The San Angelo Independent School District hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 10, to commemorate the start of construction on Fannin Elementary School’s latest expansion.

The ceremony was hosted in collaboration with the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce and held at the construction site on the school’s campus, located at 1702 Wilson St.

The expansion will be a 10,795-square-foot addition to the existing school grounds. The project will include eight modern classrooms that adjoin the classroom addition made in 1997, a new collaboration area, new student and staff restrooms, a pick-up and drop-off area with additional parking and a campus-wide update to fire alarm systems.

The construction project comes in the wake of a decision made as part of SAISD’s Sustainability Plan. In it, San Angelo ISD’s Board of Trustees voted 6 to 1 in favor of the recommendation to combine Alta Loma Elementary attendance boundaries with Fannin Elementary. Made on Feb. 28 of this year, the decision would also schedule Alta Loma Elementary to be repurposed or closed by the time the 2024-2025 school year begins.

“Probably one of the biggest factors that taxpayers can celebrate is that the Board of Trustees has been very diligent in putting money back for projects, and this is certainly one of those,” Merl Brandon, chief financial officer of SAISD, said. “There’s no bond, no increased tax rate.”

The vote also came with a decision to merge Austin Elementary attendance boundaries with McGill Elementary, a move that would see McGill Elementary host a groundbreaking ceremony of its own for a 34,000-plus square-foot facility addition in September 2023. Once completed, Austin Elementary would be repurposed or closed in time for the 2024-2025 school year, just like Alta Loma Elementary.

To read more about SAISD’s Sustainability Plan, click here.