The North Platte School District will host a groundbreaking this Friday for its new junior high school building addition.
A groundbreaking will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 1 at the site in Dearborn, Mo.
At the Wednesday, Nov. 15 board of education meeting, the board approved a $5.4 million construction proposal from Universal Construction, based in Lenexa, Kan. According to superintendent Karl Matt, this will include the construction of the new junior high, restoring a portion of the roof and completing foundation repair at the elementary school, and replacing and/or restoring portions of the roof at the high school.
The old school, which was the original Dearborn High School built in 1930, was demolished in July. Since, some site work has been started and work on building footings is expected to begin soon.
North Platte voters passed a $6.2 million no tax increase bond proposal during the April 4 election, authorizing the use of funds for capital projects, with the first priority to replace the junior high school. Other projects include roof repairs or replacements and completing smaller improvements to the schools in Dearborn and Camden Point.
The new junior high — which will adjoin the high school — should open at the start of the 2018-2019 school year while work at other schools is expected to be completed during summer break in 2018.
Matt said some parking areas will be closed during the construction, and mobile classrooms have been brought in to help accommodate students.
Total cost of the projects is estimated at $6.65 million with the current tax rate expected to generate about $6.2 million over 12 years to go with close to another half million from a Missouri Department of Energy grant.
Also at the Nov. 15 meeting, the board released its annual state performance review score – 100 percent.
While the district has historically scored high, this is the first time that North Platte has received 100 percent of the points. This rating is determined by data analyzed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which includes student performance rates on state assessments, graduation rate, attendance rate, post-secondary placement rate, ACT scores, number of students completing college dual credit course and other college preparatory data.
“This shows the outstanding job our staff, students and parents have done as we work together to ensure our students receive a great education,” Matt said. “We are very proud of our educational program and the progress our students continue to exhibit.”
North Platte was the only district in the KCI Conference to receive a perfect score. The West Platte School District came in at second place in the conference.