Caruthersville still seeking school funds

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- The superintendent of Caruthersville schools won't take no for an answer when it comes to replacing the district's tornado-damaged high school.

Voters on Tuesday rejected a $4.5 million bond issue proposal that would have helped finance construction of a new high school. Nearly 1,300 votes were cast. More than 56 percent of the voters said no to the measure. The measure needed a supermajority of just over 57 percent to pass.

But the election hasn't dimmed superintendent Dr. Nick Thiele's resolve to find construction money to either repair the damaged high school or build a new one.

A new high school would cost an estimated $7.5 million, school officials said.

Thiele said he's still pursuing efforts to secure a larger payment from the school's insurance company. He said officials with the school district and the Missouri Department of Insurance plan to meet with insurance company representatives later this month.

The state's insurance department intervened at the request of Gov. Matt Blunt, Thiele said.

He's also trying to get money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency more than a year after a tornado tore through the Bootheel town and severely damaged the three-story high school.

Money from both sources could help pay for a new high school, he said.

The district's 385 high school students currently attend class in 28 mobile classrooms on the Caruthersville Middle School campus, as well as in the repaired industrial arts building, the music building and the city recreation center.

Thiele said that is a temporary arrangement at best.

The high school was insured by Great American Insurance Co., which hasn't agreed the building is a total loss. The company has offered $1.8 million. FEMA says repairs would cost an estimated $2.3 million.

School officials believe the repair costs for the 82-year-old school are even higher. The district hired Denali Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau to make another damage estimate. That estimate places the cost of repairs at over $4.4 million.

But that figure doesn't include the added cost of meeting modern building codes, Thiele said.

If the costs of renovations or repairs to a building in Caruthersville exceed 60 percent of the value, it must meet all modern codes for resisting earthquakes, wind and fire.

The district has hired a structural engineering firm from Memphis, Tenn., to prepare estimates as to the costs of meeting building and safety codes.

Thiele said school officials hope to secure funding from FEMA to help pay the cost of any structural improvements needed to allow the school to withstand a major earthquake.

Once the district knows how much money would be available from the insurance company and FEMA, school officials can calculate how much more money would have to be raised to build a new high school, Thiele said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123