Ratcliff Constructors Schools in North Texas

Last Updated: April 7, 2016

Information compiled by FOX 4 News
Red Oak ISD

Donald T. Shields Elementary School (Repairs in

progress)

Dallas ISD

Jose Joe May Elementary School (Current

Project)

Oran M. Roberts Elementary School

Balch Springs Middle School

George H.W. Bush Elementary School

Ebby Halliday Elementary School

Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary

Jerry R. Junkins Elementary School

Lee A. McShan Jr. Elementary School

Larry G. Smith Elementary School

To your question about Dr. Hinojosas

thoughts on the matter, please
remember that, as the spokesperson for
Dallas ISD, I addressed that with you on
Jan. 29. My answer was "The
superintendent has not directed the
administration to begin such a review.
The superintendent is our CEO, and he
delegates construction and maintenance
matters to Wanda Paul, our chief of
operations. Ive checked with her and
the district has not planned additional
inspections. I know she keeps Dr.
Hinojosa informed on the matter and will
make recommendations as appropriate.

Samuell High School (Renovations)

Carter High School (Renovations)

Seagoville Middle School (Renovations)

Marsalis Middle School (Renovations)

Urban Park Elementary School (Renovations)

Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy

(Renovations)

Jefferson High School (Renovations)

Frisco ISD

James R. Newman Elementary School

March 15, 2016 Statement: As was

provided to [Fox 4], Ratcliff has worked
on 12 schools/projects for us from 2008
to 2014. This is of the 63 schools and 11
other facilities that make up our building
program. We build on average three

Janice Stahly Scott Elementary School

William and Abbie Allen Elementary School

Gerald Sonntag Elementary School

March 7, 2016 Statement from

Andre Riley, DISD Spokesperson:
We have not planned additional
inspections. As we previously stated, we
take multiple steps to ensure we are in
compliance with appropriate building
safety and construction requirements.
On all projects, our architects contract
includes construction administration
services. These licensed professionals
review all aspects of the work with
appropriate consultants. Our program
management firms and District Project
managers review the work as well.

schools a year and have worked with

many construction firms including
Cadence McShane, Lee Lewis, Charter
Builders, Hisaw, Core, Pogue, Turner, etc.
Our operation is of the size that we need
to have a construction services
department that oversees our projects
from a District perspective, in addition to
the oversight provided by the project
managers of the construction firms and
the architectural firms. We are fortunate
to have the ability and the support of the
community to have this team in place.
Our director personally looks at each
project, in addition to the inspections of
the team members under him, with
particular attention to this standard
within the project process. If he sees a
concern at any step of the way, he
provides input and identifies any actions
that need to be taken. This in essence
provides third party oversight at all
times. The quality of our program and
the safety of our students is a priority for
everyone.

Polly Tadlock Elementary School

Reba Cobb Carroll Elementary School

Libby Maus Middle School

Early Childhood School

Billy Gene Phillips Elementary School

Frisco Service Center (Phase Four & Five)

Renovations to Maple Street Complex, the old

administration building, Student Opportunity
Center and alternative program settings.

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw
ISD

Prairie Vista Middle School

Ed Willkie Middle School

March 11, 2016 Statement: To your

question about a third-party, we have
hired Don Illingworth & Associates out of
Arlington to evaluate our buildings.
They are reviewing the building plans
and identifying specific areas within
those buildings to inspect that will give
them the best look at how the walls
were installed in comparison with the
plansWe expect to have the reports by
the end of the month if not earlier.

Comanche Springs Elementary School

Lake Pointe Elementary School

Northbrook Elementary School

Parkview Elementary School

Greenfield Elementary School

Chisholm Ridge Elementary School

Hafley Development Center (Renovations)

Benbrook Middle-High School Addition &

Renovation (Converting Elementary to Middle
School)

Moore Elementary (Renovations)

Helbig Elementary (Renovations)

Chavez Elementary (Renovations)

Fort Worth ISD

March 22, 2016 Interview with Clint
Bond, Fort Worth ISD Spokesperson:
Ratcliff in partnership with us has
agreed to provide us with documentary
as well as photographic evidence of the
work theyre doing. The architect will be
doing photographic and reports twice a
week at least, and we have the city of

Benbrook code inspector.We have had

a couple of meetings with them (Ratcliff)
to address the issue with them and
going forward make sure everyone is on
the same page.

Western Hills Elementary (Renovations)

Waverly Park Elementary (Renovations)

Forest Oak Middle School (Renovations)

Crowley ISD

Crowley 9th Grade Campus (Renovations)

March 21, 2016 Statement: Crowley

ISD is committed to providing students
and staff a safe, secure learning
environment in every building. All of our
facilities have passed multiple
inspections and are monitored on a
regular basis for both routine
maintenance and structural issues
through facility walkthroughs. We are
also working closely with VLK Architects
(who designed each of the schools listed
above) to ensure the safety of each of
these buildings and to determine if
additional inspections are needed.

North Crowley 9th Grade Campus

Sue Crouch Intermediate School

Crowley High School (Renovations)

Mansfield ISD

Ben Barber Career Tech Academy (Expansion

and renovations)

Kenneth Davis Elementary School

Imogene Gideon Elementary School

Harmony Public Schools

Harmony School of Innovation

March 15, 2016 Statement from

Timothy M. Lankford, Harmony
Public Schools Communication

Harmony Science Academy

Harmony School of Business

March 21, 2016 Statement: The

safety of our students and staff will
always remain our top priority. Mansfield
ISD is thoroughly assessing and
evaluating the work done by Ratcliff
Constructors to ensure the integrity of
our infrastructures. MISD is in the
process of procuring a forensic
engineering firm to review the schools
constructed by Ratcliff Constructors. The
district has also hired a construction
observer/inspector to review and
monitor the steel framing at Ben Barber
Career and Technology Academy. When
the comprehensive evaluation has been
completed, we will be able to determine
the appropriate next steps to take if
needed.

Specialist
Harmony Public Schools confirmed that
Ratcliff did not use the same contractors
at 3 Harmony Projects. However
Harmony Public Schools is re-inspecting
the 3 projects done by Ratcliff
Contractors.
I don't have an exact time line, but I'm
told that inspections have already
began, starting with the HPS Business
campus. All 3 campus re-inspections
should be completed within the next
month... From what I was told, the
Business campus has already been
completed.

Birdville ISD

North Richland Middle School Replacement

(Current Project)

Statements from Mark Thomas,

Birdville ISD Communications
Officer:

West Birdville Elementary School Replacement

(Current Project)

BISD Administration Building

Addition/Renovation

Arlington ISD

Beth Anderson Elementary School

March 24, 2016 Statement: The

Arlington ISD Plant Services Department
makes routine observations of all
facilities to determine if building
infrastructure and systems are
performing as originally designed. When
or if there are potentially destructive
weather events that impact our facilities

Venture High School and Newcomer Center

March 21, 2016: We do not have any

schools under construction at this time
with that wall design.
I am not aware of a scheduled inspection
of the Administration Building at this
time. The building is more than 15 years
old.
March 10, 2016: BISD is pleased with
the work done by Ratcliff to date and
has had no quality issues on any Ratcliff
project. The District will require
additional inspections of all metal stud
wall systems by an independent
contractor.

directly, the district takes appropriate

action to evaluate any possible facility
damage to make necessary repairs to
bring the facility back to its original
state. The district has not determined it
to be necessary to perform any
destructive testing to either referenced
facility to identify whether the
mechanical fasteners utilized in the
construction of the exterior walls were of
a certain size or if they achieved a
certain depth. This type of observation is
the responsibility of our design and
construction materials testing
professionals to be performed during the
time the facility is being constructed.
The district will continue to observe all
AISD facilities for evidence of
infrastructure and/or system failures
requiring repair; and when necessary,
take corrective action to properly restore
the facilities for their intended function.

Uplift Education

Heights Secondary Preparatory Charter School

Editors Note: FOX 4 updated the

names of these two campuses on April
7, 2016 to reflect the differences
between the primary and secondary
buildings at each campus. This
information was clarified to FOX 4 by
Uplift Education after our initial report
aired.

Peak Primary Preparatory School

March 21, 2016 Statement from

Sara Ortega, Public Relations and
Marketing Manager: Since Uplift
hired a third party inspection firm to
specifically inspect the structural
components of these buildings
throughout construction, Uplift does not
find it necessary to re-inspect items
that have already been inspected and
already found to be in compliance.
Uplifts buildings are built with highstrength structural steel framing that is
anchor bolted to concrete piers that are
20 to 50 feet into the ground. Exact
depths are stipulated by the

Geotechnical Engineer depending on the

soil conditions under the building and
structural loads. Both Uplift Heights
Secondary and Uplift Peak Primary,
which were both built by Ratcliff, have
been designed, permitted, constructed,
inspected and verified to be in
compliance with all Design and Building
Code Requirements. In addition to
construction observations by the Design
& Engineering Team, inspections by the
City of Dallas Building Department, Uplift
Education hires a third party materials
testing and inspection firm to inspect
the structural components of their
buildings during construction. Each
building has passed all inspections and
received a Certificate of Occupancy that
is issued by the City only after everyone
has verified all permits, construction and
inspections have been completed
correctly.

Plano ISD

Pearson Early Childhood School

March 15, 2016 Statement from

Lesley Range-Stanton, Executive
Director for Communications: The
district has a thorough inspection
process in place which includes district
staff, a third party provider and the city.

Beaty Early Childhood School

Alvarado ISD

Alvarado Junior High School

March 21, 2016 Statement from

Tommy Brown, Public Information
Officer: The City of Alvarado has
adopted the 2012 International Building
Code. As required by that code, the new
Alvarado Junior High was designed for
120 mph winds.... [The] exterior walls
are reinforced and grouted concrete
masonry, which is different than the light
gauge studs weve seen in a news
photograph of the Red Oak ISD Glenn
Heights Elementary wall failure. Also, we
designed the Practice Gym structure
(within the Junior High building) as a

hardened space for 160 mph winds.

Carroll ISD
March 21, 2016 Statement from
Julie Thannum, APR, Assistant
Superintendent for Board and
Community Relations: We are
reviewing this situation with our Project
Architect. The good news is that Carroll
ISD's projects done by Ratcliff during
that time involved a different type of
exterior wall construction as the school
in your article. We do plan to have our
architect review the projects and inspect
them to ensure we don't need to take
any further action.

Carroll Senior High School Additions &

Renovations