Members of the Secretary of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment recently visited Geary County Schools on Fort Riley as part of their determination on whether to renovate or replace Jefferson Elementary.

 

“This can be characterized as part three of a four part process. Part one was a concept brief given to OEA last February. Followed by a formal proposal submitted in April.” stated David Wild, USD 475 Chief Operations Officer.

 

Jefferson Elementary is on the Department of Defense priority list for facility review. It was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 for renovation or replacement consideration. The USD 475 Board of Education voted to close Jefferson at the end of the 2018-2019 school year due to boiler failure it deemed too costly to repair.

 

The recent OEA site visit is a follow-up to the District proposal to replace the school.

 

Wild states, “It didn’t take long during the OEA tour of Jefferson for its team members to reach a conclusion that the 60 year old school is at the end of its life.”

 

During the site visit, attended by District personnel, COL Shrader, Garrison Commander, CSM Bristow and Fort Riley Public Works representatives, OEA was updated on the cost of renovation exceeding 80 percent of the cost for new construction. If approved, the new school would be built on the existing 18 acre site using 80 percent matching funds from OEA. USD 475 is holding funds equating to its 20 percent match pending final decisions.

 

Following a final proposal review, the District will receive a formal invitation to submit a grant application and await OEA’s final determination. Full design and construction is projected to take 33 months from OEA approval to completion.

 

 

David E. Wild

Chief Operations Officer

Geary County USD 475