There is progress in the effort to obtain a federal grant to help build a new elementary school on Fort Riley.

The Chief Operations Officer for USD 475, David Wild, said the Office of Economic Adjustment is scheduled to be here for a briefing and tour of Ft. Riley on Sept. 10. Wild noted that is step two out of three steps in the approval process. “If everything goes well on the 10th the district will be invited to submit a formal proposal and application, and we’re expecting approval of that should it occur by the end of this calendar year.”

The new school would replace Jefferson Elementary that was closed at the end of the last school year. If the new school is approved it would be built on the same site as the former school. Wild also referred to nearby Morris Hill Elementary which is near the end of its’ useful life. “Should we be fortunate in receiving approval of the replacement of Jefferson then eventually we will probably also close Morris Hill Elementary, and the school we would be building would be adequate to cover both schools.”

The current projected cost estimate for a new elementary school is just under $30 million. Wild said it contains a price escalation factor in it. “If approved we’ll do the full design development in calendar year 2020, construction will take place in calendar year 2021 and we will probably open it up in January 2022.”

USD 475 officials are holding $6 million in the district’s capital outlay account to pay a  20-percent matching cost on the project. The remainder of the funds would come from the federal grant, if approved. There would be no increase in the property tax levy.