Geary USD 475 did not have to pay for the cost overrun on the construction of the new Fort Riley Elementary school.

That good news fact was reported to the Board of Education on Monday.

In August of one year ago the projected cost was determined to be four million dollars more than expected. Value engineering by school district staff reduced that cost by two million dollars.

The district’s Director of Business Operations, Bill Clark, said they went to the federal Office of Economic Adjustment and State of Kansas to cover the remainder of the cost overrun. In July of this year the State did pay the school district approximately $410,000 or about 20-percent of the total.

Clark stated, “Just last Friday the director of the Office of Economic Adjustment signed an additional grant agreement providing the additional $1.6 – $1.7 million to pay for the cost overrun that we incurred. ” Clark added, “So at this point in time there’s no additional funding cost to USD 475 to complete the new Fort Riley Elementary School.”

Clark reported that the total cost for the entire school is a little over $22 million.