Yesterday, the school board had a special board meeting to review the latest design development plans from our bonding proposal that was approved in April 2018. You can find those plans presented to us here.
I'm going to be real with you. This has been a long, tedious, and at times frustrating process. In good faith, the board has kept a few things at the forefront of our minds since the district has trusted us with a major bonding initiative. 1) We cannot and will not go over budget as we have in past projects. 2) We will build what we've discussed with the community. 3) The second grade wing, and hopefully the entire project, will be complete by Fall 2020. Throughout the several months, we've seen cost estimates come in higher than initially thought. As a board, we have settled on what would be in our budget: the 8-classroom second grade wing, a full size gymnasium, and ensuring that a storm shelter is a part of the project. We had to put aside plans for possible two classroom wing additions to the kindergarten and first grade wings. The last thing we had to decide was how to move forward with drawings for a locker room. We decided to go ahead and have these architectural drawings completed and bid as an alternate. In the plans presented, the total cost is within our scope of $7.2 million. Most of our conversation last night was around the location of the storm shelter. Since, due to to project cost control, we have had to move the locker rooms from a "sure thing" to a "bid alternate"---this means that our hands were basically tied, meaning the storm shelter needs to be located in the 2nd grade wing. What does this mean? It means we're spending significantly more on FEMA-rated doors and windows for classrooms. It means those doors will be heavier than normal doors. We discussed the possibility of redrawing and recalculating budget numbers to put the locker room back in-play to be the wisest stewards of tax dollars and do whats best for kids. In the end, two things caused me to vote to move forward with the plan presented to us---putting the storm shelter in the 2nd grade hallway. First, it was doubtful to me that even with saving cost related to FEMA-related windows/doors, that we would be able to afford the size of the locker room in order to house 800+ people. Second, to keep us on our time schedule, if we were to instruct the architects and construction managers at-risk to redraw and re-estimate---we were going to lose 2+ months of time. The solution we reached isn't the perfect, but it accomplishes our goals of #1: keeping our kids safe in a storm situation and #2 keeps us within budget. It will be an adjustment and learning experience to have heavier doors on these classrooms for second graders. It's a hard pill to swallow, knowing the cost of those doors and windows. However, to keep the storm shelter and not guarantee the additional construction costs--our options were limited. We did cut the total project cost down another $125,000, to approximately $7,050,000, from what was recommended to us to ensure we stay within our allotted budget. We have contingencies built into the budget that are significant and important. What's next? The architects will continue to draw final bidding documents and finalize these in the next few weeks. The expectation is that the project will be out for bids in the first half of May, ending the first week or so of June. Our hope is for a mid-July groundbreaking time frame. This was a tough meeting and I left emotionally exhausted. Balancing facility needs, what's best for kids, ensuring we're true to how the project was sold to voters, and ensuring we stay within budget has proven to be a large and difficult task. That said, we're moving forward! Until next time, Craig
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Spring has sprung! I don't know about you, but I was ready for it!
Our April monthly school board meeting was yesterday evening. I love the fact that we spend the first few minutes of our time recognizing the good things that are happening in our district. More details can be found in the district reports, but we recognized things like Chelsea Otten and MaCall Lankford for being nominated for KPLA's Apples for Teachers award (and Mrs. Lankford for winning it all this year!) We also recognized the quiz bowl students for their 8th consecutive district championship, Mrs. O'Day, and others. Two years ago when I was elected, we began this and I'm proud of spending time recognizing and ensuring we all are aware of the good things happening with our teachers, staff, and students. Before I begin, we also had a citizen, Charles Harlow from the Hallsville historical society to invite the board and community to the dedication of the Mercantile building on April 28th at 2PM at Trible Park. The 'fun fact' that I learned was that the bell that is used at the United Methodist Church was the bell that was in the original Mercantile building (if my notes are correct). How cool is that---the bell one of our local churches (my church) rings every week....is original to the community and well more than 100 years old? As a newbie to the Hallsville community, I loved this teaching moment. Our consent agenda was rather light compared to some months, approving the financials and also the at-risk program evaluation. The entire at-risk program is going through an overhaul that I believe will help the district identify students who may have difficulties in areas sooner, ensure the interventions put in place are documented as the student progresses, and eventually leads to the PRIDE Academy for high school students who are in need. This alignment is important to ensure all of our students receive appropriate interventions and help as it's needed. We took a look at our preliminary FY2020 budget for next year. We'll approve this in June, but you can find the differences (revenue and expenses) between this year and what's being proposed at this link. Essentially, we are projecting a $475,000 surplus for next year's budget, meaning that our district is in good financial health, having a projected operating balance of 36%. What are other highlights? Mr. Downs is initially proposing a $1,000 increase in the base salary (for every position) and operating the salary schedule for those who have increased their educational attainment and are due for an increase. This would be the first base salary increase in at least 4-5 years. Our peers are raising this, and with our district's financial position being strong---this is the right thing to do. This budget would also add a few positions including a new Spanish instructor to bring down class sizes. We'll know more in the coming months, and this is a preliminary budget. I'm proud of where we have come in the last three years. Lastly, the architects and construction managers at-risk were on hand and SM Wilson presented their written report as to the activity that has taken place since our last meeting. The architects have completed their design documents and SM Wilson is working on their cost review for the board's approval. Next Monday (April 22nd) at 6PM, SM Wilson will present their final cost analysis to us at a special board meeting. The documents weren't quite ready for approval in time for this regular meeting. What's next in the process? The construction documents will then be prepared for subcontractor bidding packages. SM Wilson will develop these and then they anticipate a three-week bidding timeframe. In the fourth week, SM Wilson will review and evaluate the bids, and then present the bids for the board. Exciting times, right? All of this to say...we are still on track for opening the new facility in Fall 2020 as promised to voters when we passed it. We are getting closer to graduation, an exciting time for our district and parents! I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in a small way in these end-of-year celebrations. Thank you for reading as always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Until next time, Craig |
AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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