Wright City R-II district reviews five-year plan

By Derrick Forsythe, Record Staff Writer
Posted 11/7/19

The Wright City R-II School District recently evaluated its five-year plan, discussing what changes and upgrades will be necessary in both the short-term and distant future. Superintendent Dr. David …

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Wright City R-II district reviews five-year plan

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The Wright City R-II School District recently evaluated its five-year plan, discussing what changes and upgrades will be necessary in both the short-term and distant future.Superintendent Dr. David Buck said the exciting news is that the facilities are in overall sound shape, which allows the district to focus on ways to expand and enhance the student experience instead of structural repairs.Buck noted that the roofs, heating, air conditioning and parking lots are in “good working shape” and will not need to be addressed until the next five-year plan. He says the only absolute big-ticket need is phones.“As of 2017, our current phone servers are no longer supported,” said Buck. “We are going out to bid for those.”The district also is addressing safety concerns, working to get all five student buildings up to par with current standards and practices.“We have only two buildings that have classrooms where the teacher would have to walk into the hallway to lock them,” said Buck. “That is not ideal for an intruder situation. We have not had an issue, but in case it was to occur, we are bringing those two buildings in line with the others on campus.”The district also is looking to expand the playground space and equipment at both Wright City East and West Elementary schools to accommodate student growth.“We currently have limited equipment per the size of the population that uses them,” noted Buck.This year the high school introduced one-to-one Chromebooks for all students, and Buck says the next move will be to address updating the outdated furniture throughout the school.The high school and West Elementary also will undergo lighting upgrades, with LEDs and dimmer switches installed.“These two buildings are 50 and 27 years old and have darker classrooms,” said Buck. “This upgrade will pay for itself in or around seven years in electricity savings, but it also allows us to brighten and control the lighting in those buildings.”The district also will install LEDs and solar sensors for the parking lots, allowing lights to be on when needed instead of through the timing system used now.Finally, the district is looking to add pavement by the field house at the high school, allowing for handicap parking on pavement and sidewalks to both the baseball and football fields.Wright City R-II School District


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