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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Ladd extends offer to Cherry Grade School By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
LADD — Shortly following the news of Cherry School Board finding an alternative way to close the grade school and send students to Dimmick Consolidated School District, the Ladd Community Consolidated School Board has extended an offer to Cherry. In a letter released this week, addressed to the Cherry Grade School Board, the Ladd School Board extends an offer to Cherry Board to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to educate any or all Cherry students who wish to attend Ladd. “The offer would include a tuition rate that would be supportive of the deactivation plan,” the letter reads. The letter was signed by Ladd School Board President Mark Mosbach. Ladd School Superintendent Michelle Zeko said on Thursday the offer is a way for Ladd to make sure Cherry knew the school district would be willing to help if need be. “If there are Cherry students that want to come to Ladd that would be willing, we welcome those students to Ladd,” she said. “I think it’s always good to have an open communication with the school district. We’ve worked with Cherry for many years, and if this is something we can help with, we are happy to do that.” In November, the Cherry School Board approved a two-year intergovernmental agreement with Dimmick Consolidated School District and to pay a flat tuition fee of $290,000 to send students to Dimmick during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years. The Cherry School Board also approved a referendum, which will place a question on the March 18 ballot. The referendum will ask Cherry voters whether or not to deactivate the school for the next two years.
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NEWSSTAND PRICE 75¢
Memorial trees to be replaced By Becky Kramer news@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — The Hall High School Board adopted the Fiscal Year 2013 tax levy at Wednesday night’s meeting. Though several funds will be seeing a reduction in tax money, the overall levy will be increasing by $1.04 for a total of $3.99. Superintendent Struna indicated he worked hard at making the increase as small as possible.
Damian Eallonardo from Leopardo Construction was in attendance to provide an update to the board on the school construction project. Work began in early November on the installation of construction fencing, erosion control measures and project team construction offices. Mass excavation is currently underway including the relocation of the existing sanitary sewer system, site clearing, topsoil stripping and building pad construction. This portion of the project is
expected to continue through late January. “Everything is going well and according to the plan,” Eallonardo said. Bid package 2, for concrete foundations, precast wall panels and structural steel is available now with bids due on Jan. 9. This package comprises 22 percent of the overall project value. Bid package 3 is currently in final design with bidding anticipated in early 2014.
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BCR photo/Goldie Currie
A contractor drills together the framework of what will be an administrative office in the new addition currently being constructed at the John F. Kennedy School in Spring Valley. The new addition to the school is expected to be complete in July 2014. The project includes two wings — one will hold classrooms for fifth through eighth grade, and the second wing will hold a multipurpose room, full stage area, gymnasium, library, art room, choir room, computer lab and more. Construction is nearing 50 percent complete to date.
Construction at JFK School progresses Addition to include modern, energy efficient features By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — A smile meets the face of Spring Valley Elementary School District Superintendent Jim Hermes, as he walks through the construction site of what will be the new building addition at John F. Kennedy School. He watches an assortment of busy projects taking place within the constructed walls.
Whether it be workers laying bricks, cutting cement blocks, welding metal or sorting electrical wiring, he greets them as he walks by exploring the 77,000-square-foot addition. A little more than 45 percent of construction has been completed to date. Construction kicked off in August and is expected to finish around July 2014. While the project cost of the addition sits around $17 million, 75 percent of costs were covered by a state grant. The leftover
25 percent of costs will be covered by the district. “Anytime you get 75 percent of something paid for, you can’t beat it,” Hermes said. The district has been paying for the project for about five years with issuance of $5.1 million in bonds. “We knew we wanted to do this project. We were just waiting on the state’s portion,” Hermes said. “Last year, we received notification that we had finally received the grant through the state.”
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