In May 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed Senate Bill 2, which provides approximately $10,000 in state funds per student for school tuition and educational expenses at public, private, and charter schools of their selection. Often referred to as an Education Savings Account, the “school choice” bill allows Texans to use taxpayer dollars to choose where and how their children are educated, including provisions for homeschooling. Consequently, public school districts in Texas face tremendous pressure to be better in every way.
Located 15 minutes southwest of Houston, Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (Lamar CISD) is one of the fastest-growing school districts in Texas. Projected to serve more than 70,000 students during the next decade, the district is grateful for continued voter support in passing bond referendums to fund new facility construction. Educators, designers, and builders all know that the community’s expectations for return on investment are great.
“Lamar CISD’s new Gene Tomas High School in Richmond, TX, is a new comprehensive school designed to serve around 2,500 students,” begins Kelli Onarheim, RID, NCIDQ, an Associate Principal and Senior Interior Designer with PBK. A full-service architectural planning and design firm of over a thousand employees headquartered in Houston, PBK is a recognized leader in PreK–12 design.
“VCT has a long-proven track record in educational environments because it performs so well under heavy foot traffic.”
“PBK has been pioneering innovative approaches to Next Generation learning spaces with school districts for 45 years. This high school is part of an educational village that includes an elementary school, a middle school, and a junior high, forming a cohesive and connected environment. As the surrounding area grows, these facilities will support the district’s long-term expansion.”
Given the need to assure that local parents send their children to Lamar CISD schools rather than take their tax dollars elsewhere, every decision counts. The district’s primary goal for the new 449,256 sq. ft. high school was to create a safe, welcoming, and engaging environment. To ensure the facility feels approachable and inclusive, while also supporting the diverse academic, athletic, and extracurricular programs housed within the school, Onarheim and the PBK team used clear wayfinding, intuitive spatial organization, and durable material selections as the basis of decision-making.
“Throughout the facility, we’ve used a soothing color palette, patterns, and natural light to create spaces that feel energized yet comfortable. Our vision was an educational environment that fosters connection, encourages learning, and instills a sense of pride in the district’s students,” says Onarheim of design objectives. Selecting interior finishes that look great and last a lifetime with minimal maintenance is a must in educational spaces. Year after year, the wear and tear of teenagers is substantial. The surface that sees the most traffic is the floor. “Functionally and experientially, flooring is the largest and most used contact surface in any building, setting the tone for how a space looks, feels, and performs. Done right, the floor doesn’t just sit beneath the design; it reinforces how the space works and how people experience it.The trick is to balance warmth with durability in material selection.”
For the Larmar CISD, and many others, when it comes to flooring for educational spaces, Vinyl Composition Tile, better known as VCT, is hard to beat.
“VCT has a long-proven track record in educational environments because it performs so well under heavy foot traffic,” continues Onarheim. Composed primarily of limestone, the integral color chips AHF Products uses produce top-to-bottom true-thru color patterns in VCT under the Armstrong Flooring® and AHF Contract® brands. As such, it doesn’t wear through, even as the shuffling shoes of teenagers in motion abrase the surface of hallways, classrooms, and gymnasiums. “VCT can withstand decades of wear while being cost-effective to maintain and repair. Scuffs are easily buffed out.”
Luis Mendoza, Bond Program Representative for Lamar CISD’s new Gene Tomas High, agrees.
“As the owner’s representative, my job is to act as a liaison between the contractor and the owner, making decisions in the project’s best interest,” says Mendoza who works for program management representative Rice & Gardner. “The goal at Rice & Gardner was to help Lamar CISD build a school that outlives its projected 50-year lifespan. Southeast Texas has a subtropical climate. We’ve got long, hot, and humid summers, and significant rain in the spring and fall. Iliad™ VCT from AHF Contract was chosen because it’s a long-lasting material that only needs a wet mop and a coat of polish at the start of every semester to look brand new for the next 50 years or more.”
Longevity isn’t VCT’s only positive. Designers like Onarheim at PBK turn to this product because of its wide range of colors to support wayfinding, branding, and visual organization, helping students navigate intuitively.
Iliad’s inventive palette is both timeless and timely. The new collection draws inspiration from the cultural treasures of ancient Greece. Iliad’s fresh colors – with names like Dynastic White, Noble Blue, Glowing Light, and Valor Green – echo the hand-crafted imperfections and subtle hues of ancient stones. Its sun-bleached colors are reminiscent of archaeological finds.
© Andy Phan | Photography
“VCT remains a tried-and-true solution that delivers durability, flexibility, and long-term value for large educational facilities,” finishes Onarheim. “While trends and evolving aesthetics influence the variety of flooring materials on the market, VCT is a proven solution that aligns well with capital funding strategies and operational realities.”