JACKSON BOARD GETS A LOOK AT MIDDLE SCHOOL PLANS

JACKSON -- Jackson School Board members got their first glimpse of district's proposed middle school Monday.

Calling the architect's preliminary floor plan of the building "step one, a starting point," school Superintendent Wayne Maupin and the building's architects, John D. Dudley and Bob Stearnes, guided board members and the news media on a 90-minute journey through the proposed middle school.

The facility is designed to relieve overcrowding at the R.O. Hawkins Junior High School and increasingly crowded conditions at the nearby West Lane Elementary School.

The proposed school would be located on a 26-acre tract near the intersection of Broadridge and West Independence on the far northwest side of Jackson.

The horseshoe-shaped, one-story building would be oriented on a northeast-southwest angle, on the east side of Broadridge and the south side of West Independence.

The school district is currently negotiating with Southeast Missouri Medical Center, Inc., to purchase the land. During Monday's meeting, the board authorized Maupin to proceed with finalizing the purchase of the property, contingent on the recommendation of the architects and acceptable soil samples.

Maupin said the 85,918-square-foot building will have 70,000 square feet of classroom space that includes 24 classrooms, a gym, library, music room and kitchen.

The north wing of the building will house the sixth grade classrooms, while the south wing will be used for seventh grade classes. All of the classrooms will have windows, with some classroom windows facing an open-air courtyard in the center of the complex. The building is designed to accommodate 750 students.

The music room, gym, cafeteria and administrative offices would all be located at the east end of the building. Plans call for separate locations for school buses and parents to drop off or pick up students.

Because of cost factors, Maupin said the number of classrooms in the new school was reduced from 28 to 24.

The architects emphasized the floor plan is only a rough draft. Maupin said the floor plan will go back to the middle school committee for further review and recommendations.

Maupin said the estimated cost of the middle school project is about $5,590,558. That includes $4,553,654 for the building, plus another $1,036,904 for land acquisition, soil tests, landscaping, furnishings and legal fees.

The district would finance the construction of the middle school with proceeds from a $4.9 million bond issue, $400,000 from the 1992-93 budget, $200,000 interest on the bond proceeds and another $100,000 budgeted for the new building in the 1993-94 budget.

Anticipating the question from the board, Maupin then asked, "What would this do to our tax levy? We are now exploring all of our available options on financing the building project.

"By next week you will have more financial information. We will need to make a decision on the method of financing the project before the end of the month. A plan for the bond issue will be ready for you to consider at the Jan. 19 meeting."

In order to get the bond issue on the April ballot, it must be submitted to the county clerk by Feb. 9.

Maupin told the board the district will not recommend a companion operating tax levy increase to go with the bond issue. Instead, the district plans to operate the school from its annual budgets.

After hearing the presentations by Maupin and the architects, board President Jack Knowlan Jr. commented, "It looks like a good place to start."

In other business, the board authorized the purchase of five, diesel-powered school buses, at a cost of $174,535, from C&H, Inc., of Raytown. The C&H bid was one of four bids received.

The district is purchasing the three 66-passenger buses and two 78-passenger buses to replace aging gasoline-powered buses in its fleet. Because of a tight budget last year, the district did not purchase any new school buses.

School Bus Transportation Coordinator Jean Kurre told the board the new diesel-powered buses will have a life span of about 10 years, compared to the seven-year life span of gasoline-powered buses owned by the district.