Mid-Prairie picks middle school construction plan

WELLMAN — The Mid-Prairie school board has picked which construction endeavors it will undergo at the middle school after a bond election loss halted more ambitious plans earlier this year.

The unanimously approved proposal adds new fifth grade rooms, a new FCS classroom, and converts the old FCS room into two special ed rooms. The plan also includes an addition for business and Spanish classes, and an expanded commons area.

Middle School Principal Rob Hruby said of the board’s three construction plans for the building, the chosen one was most popular in his building.

“Talking to teachers, especially special ed staff, having those special ed rooms centrally located is a big thing,” he said.

Hruby was an advocate for special ed-focused work during a planning meeting in March.

“For a lot of our life skills programs, one of the things they always ask for is the ability to do laundry and be able to cook simple meals,” he said. “By doing this we can give them that space … and they can carry out some of those tasks. It opens up a lot of opportunities.”

The move comes after the board approved construction at East Elementary, another area the district had identified as a top priority even before the bond election.

The two construction projects are financed by the district’s sale of $12.5 million in sales tax revenue bonds in March.

Board member Jake Snider said he was enthusiastically in favor of the move.

“If it’s the staff’s opinion that they really want to keep it centralized, I don’t see really much of conversation,” he said. “They think it has to be centralized, they want it that way, then that’s what we need to do.”

Natalie Oppedal, the project’s architect from contractor Shive-Hattery, said the construction would tentatively finish by fall of 2024.

"We are planning to go out to bid before the holiday in December,“ she said. ”We’ll get bids in late January, and usually we’ll try to time that with pretty close proximity to a board meeting so that you guys can approve the recommended contractors … The anticipated order of things right now is the additions would be constructed first so that we stay out of the existing building … and then that summer is where we start to dive into the renovation.“

School board President Jeremy Pickard said he was optimistic about the construction.

“I feel good about it … we’re excited,” he said.

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