Thursday, October 20, 2005 9:49 AM CDT
Charleston adds second modular classroom to Mark Twain School
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- There was some reluctance but the school board Wednesday decided to give the go-ahead to a second modular classroom building at Mark Twain Elementary School.
The board voted 5-1 to accept a $42,000 bid for a foundation and early stage remodeling to the building at the site, where the district is already using one modular classroom because of additional students at the school this year.
Member Jeff Coon voted against the plan; board President Kevin Oakley didn’t attend the meeting.
The vote awarded the work to Swingler Construction of Effingham, which installed the modular currently in use. Moving the building from where it’s being stored near Jefferson Elementary School should cost no more than $4,000, Superintendent Gary Niehaus said.
Niehaus told the board he thinks the district can move part of its Project Help preschool program to Mark Twain from Jefferson, and perhaps add another preschool program, and make use of the additional space. About 20 percent of the district’s kindergarten students don’t attend any type of preschool program before kindergarten, he said.
“I’m looking at educating, on a yearly basis, 60 kids,” Niehaus said.
However, Coon said he is concerned about other costs of getting the building ready for use. He questioned spending the money when the only solid plan for the building is for a program the district already has in a different location.
“I don’t have enough information,” Coon said. “What kind of message do we want to send to the taxpayers?”
Additional concerns Coon and others mentioned included the risk of the district counting on grants, as Niehaus suggested, for other preschool programs and what would actually take place in the modular unit. Niehaus said without the second building, it wouldn’t do the district any good to get the grants.
“All we’re looking for is more opportunities,” Niehaus said. “If we got a grant today, where would I tell them I’m going to put them?”
Board member Jason Coe said he also had concerns but voted in favor of the proposal because “we ought to use the building.”
In other business Wednesday, the board approved bids for repair work at Jefferson. The board accepted a bid of just more than $27,000 from Design Roofing Systems of Springfield for work on part of the school’s roof and a bid of just more than $19,000 from Mason’s Masonry of Brownstown for work on bricks near the building’s entrance.
The board also heard a preliminary report on the district’s annual property tax levy, which it will approve in December. District financial consultant David Keutemeyer said he doesn’t think tax income will increase at the 3.3-percent rate of inflation, the limit under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.
“Our tax base is probably going to remain pretty static,” Keutemeyer said. “We’re not going to see a big increase coming into the district.”
Farmland values will decrease the legal maximum of 10 percent, which will equal a $4 million drop in property values, but new construction such as apartment buildings near the Wal-Mart store should add about $2 million and “somewhat offset that,” he added.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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Karen Hill, Pikeville KY wrote on Jun 2, 2007 6:15 PM: