Construction on a new high school gym could begin in February.
The School Board discussed options for the new gym, including a new weight room and training room, during Thursday night’s meeting.
Superintendent Stu Moeckel said the goal of the new gym is to make sure it is the most flexible space the district can have.
“We can’t go back and change once we have started this construction,” Moeckel said. “Being as flexible as possible is what we are really intending to do here.”
The board looked at three drawingsof what the new gym could look like: Options A,B and C.
Option A had the smallest gym at 14,615 square feet, and Moeckel said it was similar to the elementary school gym. There would only be one court that runs east and west.
Option B is 512 square feet bigger than Option A. The gym would have two courts running north and south. This gym would give enough room for two small practice basketball and volleyball courts.
Option C was the biggest at 17,458 square feet. This gym would also have two courts that run north and south, but would be big enough for two basketball or volleyball teams to have full size practices.
Vice President Joe Hurla said he was leaning toward the biggest gym option, Option C, even though it will cost an additional $1.2 million.
“There is not going to be a time where we can expand this gym. So, we need to decide whatever we are going to put in that it’s adequate,” Hurla said. “If the size of this high school is going to theoretically double in the next 20 years, we are going to be using this gym with twice as many students.”
In other business, Stifel Director Bret Shogren and Managing Director Steve Shogren discussed the successful sale of nearly $38 million worth of bonds.
Steve Shogren said 95% of the bonds were ordered during an hour and half order period Tuesday.
“We had a very good sale, a very good response, and we are quite pleased with the result,” he said.
After the Shogrens’ bond update, the board unanimously passed a resolution to issue the bonds and to levy an annual tax to pay for the bonds.
The bond issue will close Aug. 3, which is when the money will be wired to the district’s bank account.
With the bond issue coming to a close soon, this is why the board is looking at a schedule for the construction projects on each school building, including a new secure entrance at the middle school.
The new entrance could see construction begin in March. Moeckel said the current entrance would not be closed during construction because that is the school’s only entrance.
Construction on a new playground at the elementary school will begin next summer.
No final decisions were made on the options for the high school gym or the middle school entrance Thursday night.
In other business, the board discussed the unofficial state assessment results. Based on the results, the district met or exceeded in all but two assessed grades across English, math and science.
Director of School Improvement Services Heather Hundley said the district’s goal last year was to increase the number of students performing at levels 3 and 4 of the Kansas state assessment by 5%.
Five of the assessed grade levels had an increase of students performing at levels 3 and 4 by 5% or more, with four out of five grade levels increasing their performance in math.
Seventh grade math and 10th grade English assessment each saw a more than 5% decrease.
Finally, the School Board also approved to transfer Tyler Blackburn from seventh grade boys basketball associate head coach to the eighth grade boys basketball head coach next year.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]
