The Warren County R-III school district is looking to set plans soon for a potential no-tax increase bond issue for a new elementary school.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Warren County R-III school district is looking to set plans soon for a potential no-tax increase bond issue for a new elementary school.
The district is considering putting an issue on the April 2024 ballot for a no-tax increase bond issue to build a new elementary school on a property on North Highway 47, which the district owns. Daniel Boone Elementary would move to the new building, according to the plan. The school board has yet to vote on whether to proceed with the bond issue.
The school board is planning to look at one of the new elementary schools in Wentzville later this month. Warren County R-III superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith said the district could utilize the same prototype as the Wentzville elementary schools to save money. Warren County R-III utilizes the same company that built the schools in Wentzville.
“What I would recommend is that we use Wentzville’s prototype model,” Klinginsmith said. “They’ve built a bunch of them. The contractors in the area already know how to bid that. What that’s going to be. The architects already have the drawings. That will save us a lot of money on architect fees. They don’t have to go and draw a whole brand new elaborate thing.”
Klinginsmith stressed the district can also come up with their own model for the building. This would lead to an increased cost.
Once the board looks at the school in Wentzville, they will want to decide soon after whether to proceed with the bond issue and if so, whether they want to utilize the Wentzville prototype model or use a different design. The deadline to put the issue on the April ballot is December.
“Once everyone’s here, we need to settle on this is what we’re doing,” Klinginsmith said. “And then we need to settle on design and go from there. And then, we’ll want to debate probably in late fall do we want to go out for bid before? Because if we want to do that, we want to have bids for the March board meeting.”
Klinginsmith stressed the district’s plans are to build a new elementary school on the site they own on North Highway 47 at some point. Even if the district does not build a new elementary school on the proposed timeline of shortly after April 2024, the design would be locked in to utilize in the future.
“Instead of a waste, it’s an investment,” Board member Rich Barton said. “We hope it’s now when the cost is minimal compared to what it would be in the future.”
The school board did not take any action at least week’s work session.
