Following the approval of Proposition A during the April election, the Warren County R-III School District has begun moving forward with plans for a $10 million construction and renovation project that is expected to be completed by the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.Two drafts of the project schedule were presented by Matt McDermott of Hoerner Associates Inc., at the monthly board meeting April 14.“They’re not set in stone,” said McDermott. “They’re just ideas as we start this process.”The primary difference between the two draft plans is that the second draft ranks the prioritization of the high school projects higher than the initial draft. The schedules have the time line broken down into six packages.Packages No. 1 and 2 include security vestibule and entrance renovations to Rebecca Boone and Warrior Ridge Elementary schools and are the first slated for completion.“Those are ones we can start with, because they have very clean entrances,” said McDermott. “We’ve shown those happening from April through August, and you should see some activity there this summer.”Prior to the construction process beginning, Superintendent Jim Chandler says the district must finalize paperwork and evaluate the bid packages as they arrive in anticipation for approval during the June meeting.“We’re very excited that we’re able to get deeper into the planning stages and really start looking into the schedules now knowing we’re going to be able to move forward,” said Chandler.The construction on the entrances is expected to begin in late June, with those upgrades being completed for use by the beginning of the 2016-17 school year in August.Additional construction is not expected to begin until November, with the planning stages taking much longer on the high school gymnasium, which is listed as Package No. 4 on the initial schedule draft but is expedited to No. 3 on the second draft.The interchangeable projects in that case are the HVAC and lighting upgrades to Black Hawk Middle School and all three elementary schools in the district.Each of those later dated projects are anticipated to be ready for use by August or September of 2017.“As we move forward the majority of bigger work would be during the summer of 2017,” said Chandler. “Hopefully within 18 to 20 months we will be able to see that progress and all of the work having come together for good use.”He said much of the interior work, including HVAC and lighting, will have to be completed while school is not in session. On the contrary, the construction on the external projects may be able to go on during that time.Chandler says the district plans to further discuss the two project schedules to determine with which they would like to move forward.Warren County R-3 School District