By the time current eighth-grade students in the Wright City R-II School District receive their diplomas, they may well have been part of a historic transition. It is possible that as early as the …
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By the time current eighth-grade students in the Wright City R-II School District receive their diplomas, they may well have been part of a historic transition. It is possible that as early as the fall of 2024, R-II students will be attending classes in a new high school building.
While the topic of a new high school has arisen in the past due to space concerns, the first official discussions concerning the plan took place during a special school board meeting on Feb. 4. Representatives from both Stifel Financial Management and Bond Architects were present to provide insight to the board concerning future facility projects.
“This is our first look at updated data in terms of our debt and planning out when we could possibly go forward,” said R-II Superintendent Dr. Chris Berger. “They went over the payment schedule history with the board and looked at when the board would have an opportunity to go back to the patrons with a no-tax-increase proposal.”
The earliest possible date for putting a bond for the facility construction on an election ballot would be the April 2022 election. Berger said this funding would likely not be limited to the new high school, but that it would be the primary focus and need for the district in terms of meeting student needs.
“We looked at the current conditions of the high school and talked about several things on campus in the master facility plan,” said Berger. “We are landlocked at our current high school and don’t have adequate parking. The facility is in high need. The spacing for the high school was not designed for current programing. It’s outdated, and there’s some costly fixes.”
“We’ve got students jammed into some of our classrooms just because it was an available space, not necessarily because it fit the current needs or specifications,” said Berger. “Our restrooms are undersized, and the restroom spaces for our gym area are grossly undersized.”
Additionally, there are operational concerns that could prove costly to continue repairing.
“Our roof is in constant need of repair,” said Berger. “We’ve had evaluations done and band-aided to keep it functional. Beyond that, we have frequent heating and cooling outages and right now filtration is of extreme importance during COVID.”
One major hurdle toward building a new high school has already been crossed, which would be the acquisition of land for a new campus site. R-II purchased 84 acres of land along Highway F on the south edge of town in 2010 in anticipation of this construction project.
“That was great facility planning by our past board and really eliminates a huge question, which is ‘where to build,’” said Berger. “We hope to secure a geo study and topographical survey at our Highway F property. We don’t want any surprises, so we’re going to have that well inspected.”
In terms of costs, the district is estimating $35 million, and considered examples of what facilities that could provide during the meeting. No preliminary designs were presented, as Berger expects that phase to possibly be unveiled during the April board meeting.
If the process were to move along smoothly and pass voter approval in April of 2022, the district would proceed with securing bids, which could take up to six months. With the potential building process beginning in the fall of 2022, the project would be given an approximately two-year completion date.
Berger said the board would like to ask patrons of the district for guidance prior to placing the no-tax proposal on the ballot. He asserts that R-II is very much in the initial stages of this planning process.
“The board offered feedback to the architects, and they’ll start sketching out some preliminary designs,” said Berger. “There are many revisions ahead still.”
