The Hazen School Board wasted little time Tuesday (March 24) approving a nearly $6 million plan for campus improvements and hiring renowned high school football coach Clay Totty.

The board heard from Totty, who will serve as football coach and athletic director at the start of the meeting. He replaces longtime football coach and athletic director Joe Besancon, who was hired at Barton High School.

“My philosophy in a nutshell is hard work. There’s no easy way to do anything in life,” Totty told board members and those in attendance. “We’re trying to mold better men, better women throughout the athletic program so that when they get out in the world, they’re productive and they make us proud.”

Totty most recently was the head football coach at Wynne High School and has won state championships at Rison in his previous tenure. Grand Prairie Herald Sports Editor Mark Buffalo has an in-depth interview with Totty on this paper’s Sports page (P.8).

The board heard from C.R. Crawford Construction, the general contractor for four major projects on the Hazen school campus. Crawford officials outlined a series of bids they have received from subcontractors aiming to bring the overall improvements to under $6 million.

The upgrades consist of four projects that include the Pre-K building, an agri science building, renovation of the girls’ athletic workout space, and the football fieldhouse. The total for all four projects is estimated at $5.994 million, just under the $6 million goal. A breakdown of costs is below.

– PreK Building – $2.2 million

– Agri Science Building – $1.968 million

– Girls Athletic Workout Space Renovation – $249,000

– Football Fieldhouse – $1.8 million

The estimate for construction time is 8-9 months depending on the weather. Contractors are aiming for a May 1^st start date. The board approved the plan, which is funded by a voter-approved 7.5 mil increase in November 2024, as presented.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Hazen Superintendent Andy Barrett. “We spent probably a year and a half on this, and a lot of deadlines came and went… it felt like we were stuck in the mud for a long time.”

“But, I just can’t be more excited that we’re completely in budget right now,” he added. “You know, all of our patrons and our stakeholders here in the district that support our school, and everybody that pays their taxes, we’re just happy to be right where we’re supposed to be.”