WAYNESVILLE R-VI SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVES $20 MILLION BUILDING PLAN
On March 19, the Waynesville R-VI School District Board of Education unanimously approved a $20,179,500 million building project.
The Waynesville High School Campus Completion Project will include additions and renovations to the high school building on GW Lane Street to be completed by the start of the 2013-2014 school year.
Components of the project include the following (See second sheet for project specifications):
· Ninth Grade Center academic space (49,500 sq. ft.)
· Locker room renovation and crossfit addition
· Wrestling room and small gymnasium
· Cafeteria renovation and addition
· Library expansion
· Band storage and addition
· Interior renovations
· Two field houses
· Football field and track
· Stadium bleacher seating
· Football plaza site work
· Baseball field and soccer field improvements
“This sets up the district for whatever comes at us,” said Waynesville School Board Member Herman Blau. “This is the right thing to do at the right time.”
The construction will not result in a tax increase. In fact, the district has the lowest tax levy allowed by law, according to Judene Blackburn, Superintendent of the Waynesville R-VI School District.
Additionally, the board announced that in the beginning of March, the Waynesville High School lease-purchase was paid off. By re-structuring the Freedom Elementary School and Waynesville High School leases in 2007, the district was able to pay off the high school nine years early and save $2.4 million.
“Being good stewards of our money allows us to build these projects,” said Mike Keeling, member of the district’s school board.
The Board of Education also approved a recommendation by Lisa Drew-Alton of Sapp Design Associates to make K & S Associates, Inc., the general contractor for the Waynesville High School Campus Completion Project. The St. Louis-based company had the lowest bid and will begin work on April 2.
Construction should be completed by September 2013.The board also approved a resolution for Larry Hart of L J Hart and Associates to seek financing for the first $10 million of the building project.
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Debbie Akery Receives Award
Mike Freeman of Sellers-Sexton, the sponsor of the Project Teach Award, presented Debbie Akery with a plaque and a check for $100 on March 19 at the Wayneville R-VI School District Board Meeting. Akery, an art teacher at Thayer Elementery School, was recognized this quarter for her project with Artsonia.com, an on-line student art gallery.
Students at Thayer Elementary are getting an unprecedented opportunity to showcase artwork to a worldwide audience at www.artsonia.com. Artsonia, the world’s largest online student art museum, holds a “working portfolio” of finished artwork that students may continue to add to throughout middle and high school keeping a history of their growth in art.
"I see increased pride and self esteem in my students after participating in Artsonia," Akery said. "Viewing their own creations in an online museum, students are putting forth extra effort in the art room, knowing it will be posted for all their friends and family to appreciate."
Parents and family members take a much more active role in their child's art education by viewing the artwork online, joining the child's fan club, and leaving supportive comments in the artist guestbook."The feedback I have received from family, especially relatives who may not live nearby, is priceless in the development of the child's artistic confidence," Akery said.
After the student artwork is published online, parents and other family members may purchase keepsakes from the museum with the child's artwork imprinted on it, and 15 percent of the revenue is commissioned back to the school art program.A specific way that Artsonia is meaningful to students at Thayer is that it gives military parents who are deployed the opportunity to be directly involved in their children's school lives. Akery said that grandparents are also big fans of the online museum.
