By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Maintaining a strong focus on academics was a high priority cited by USD 475 Board of Education members and Superinendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston during discussions on the cost overrun and necessary reductions in the new Junction City High School construction project.
The new cost estimate after reductions of numerous alternate projects and an increase of 15.8% in the construction price index over the last three years, is $121.5 million.
On the project reductions that included more than 120 items ranging from the elimination of artificial turf on the baseball and softball fields to removal of some parking space, Board member Jim Schmidt said officials both internal and external to the district have been working on the list pretty hard. ‘We’ve got some opportunities to be smart about how we spend the taxpayer dollars to deliver the facility that we need from an academic and extracurricular activities standpoint. Ultimately I’m happy with where we’re coming together.”
Schmidt wishes the district didn’t have to deal with the increase in the construction price costs. “No but I think we’ve seen that from a federal standpoint all over. The economy is going well, we’re dealing with tariffs and a few other factors involved here. Ultimately we’re still going to get the job done without changing the mill levy and deliver a great facility to our community.”
BOE President Rina Neal expressed her appreciation to the staff and architectural and construction teams for providing the information. But the importance of academics also has to be considered when considering the costs for the school. “I think that what we need to continue to explain to the public is that we did say $105 million but we have all this extra money ( heavy federal impact aid ) that has come in and we’re trying to use that money to apply to the needs of the school. So we’re continuing to focus on our academic piece as well any other enhancements that we can provide to the school. ” Neal explained the first focus has to be on academics. “Most definitely. As long as we’re not comprising the education and academic piece of what we’re doing I think we’re in a good direction.”
During the discussion on the high school project Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston told the Board that there needs to be the right balance because the rest of the district exists. JCHS is important but there are other costs for the district to address in the future such as salary, deferred maintenance at buildings and the academic focus.