R-5 school board hears report on upcoming construction projects

Friday, February 16, 2007

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada R-5 Board of Education had a lot on its plate for its Wednesday evening meeting and wasted no time in digging in. Current construction projects were first on the agenda with the elevator project leading the way.

Superintendent Craig Noah told the board Straub Construction has begun preparations to start the project in early spring. Sub-contractors have been contacted and a billing cycle has been set up to help handle payment of invoices.

"We don't have a definite start date; however, I feel comfortable in stating that we should begin to see work taking place in the early part of spring," Noah said.

The Benton classroom addition project has been delayed by the severe weather the area has experienced. Noah praised the students who are doing the work and expressed the hope that the work would be completed by the end of the school year.

"The weather has certainly delayed the Benton classroom addition project," Noah said. "Mr. Peterman's students have done a wonderful job and we look forward to seeing them continue with the project. We are still hopeful that the two additional instructional areas will be completed by the end of the school year, weather permitting."

Three of the board members -- Chris Ellis, Larry Forkner and Joy Hawks --attended a legislative forum sponsored by the Missouri School Boards Association in Jefferson City and shared their observations with the board.

Ellis said that one of the subjects addressed was the tendency of school districts around the state to start the school year earlier and earlier.

"One of the legislators told us that it seemed as though every year, schools were starting earlier and earlier and that as board members we need to use discretion in setting a start date," Ellis said.

Noah also reported to the board on a variety of bills that have been introduced in the state legislature -- two involving school make up days, one about open enrollment, two about educator retirement and one that would impose restrictions on when districts could begin school years.

The board also voted to purchase a 2008 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner 65-passenger bus. The cost was $67,000, $418 more than the only other bid, from Central States bus sales. Noah explained the reasoning behind the choice.

"The bid from Thomas Built is more desirable due to the fact that it is very similar to our other buses, so we have lots of parts that will work with it, and the engine is better, according to Mr. Pettibon, and I'm not a mechanic so I'll defer to his opinion."

The board voted to proceed with the first phase of construction for the new football field house. The site was chosen to keep the field house close to the field, the other option would have been to move it farther west making getting to it difficult.

The board is also moving forward with the central office project which will be located directly south of the high school next to the new parking lot. It, like the field house, will be bid without the use of an architectural firm to save money for the district. The project should be completed during the summer to allow the current office space to be converted into classrooms in time for the opening of school.

In other business the board:

* Voted to set the March board date to March 21 to avoid conflicting with spring break.

* Approved alternate bus routes during inclement weather.

* Approved a contract with OPAA for food service.

* Approved raising the tuition for the LPN program $300 across the board. The new tuition is now $5,500 for in-state tuition and $5,800 for out-of-state tuition.