Mid-Prairie votes to move forward with project financing

The Mid-Prairie school board agreed Monday to move ahead with securing funding for a scaled-back facilities project.

The board unanimously agreed to pursue securing approximately $12.5 million in sales tax revenue bonds to add classrooms to both East Elementary and the middle school.

Middle school Principal Rob Hruby presented plans that include adding two classrooms, as well as renovations to the existing commons area, converting the existing FCS space for new special education rooms and renovating the existing ag science/industrial tech room to a new fifth grade classroom.

Hruby said that the plans were different from what was presented to the board last week that called for converting the industrial tech room to a vocal room.

“We determined that the industrial tech room would not work as a vocal room,” Hruby told the board Monday.

The estimated price tag for the middle school project is $5.63 million.

At East Elementary, a total of five new classrooms would be added — one on the north end of the building and four on the east end.

Two of the new east end classrooms would be over 1,000 square feet, while the other two would be about 860 square feet.

Principal Greg Jergens said that the larger classrooms would accommodate kindergarten classrooms, which have to be larger than those of other grades.

Board President Jeremy Pickard suggested expanding the plans slightly in order to make all four east end classrooms over 1,000 square feet.

The estimated cost of the East Elementary project is $4.06 million, but that would increase if the classrooms were made larger.

The board also agreed to include new lighting for the softball field and resurfacing the high school track to the overall project.

Initially, a new wrestling room was going to be included, but board members agreed to hold off on that project.

“I’d like to get some more information on that first,” Pickard said.

Comments: james.jennings@southeastiowaunion.com