The Blair Oaks Board of Education appointed a new secretary and discussed the district's budget, future projects, and the new high school at Tuesday's meeting.
The new secretary is Audrey Feely, who is one of the district's administrative assistants.
Superintendent Jim Jones began the meeting by presenting pictures of the new Blair Oaks High School layout. He emphasized the phase-one look of the gymnasium, which is a two-phase project. The gymnasium ultimately will seat about 2,000 people, but in the first four years, it will seat 1,300, which is more than the current gym seats.
Jones said he expects to have a no-tax increase bond issue in 2023.
Jones said the bid document for the new high school is complete, and he plans for it to be open to bid by Jan. 31. He expects the board to be able to award the bid to a contractor at its March 10 meeting, then the contract should be put together within a week. They expect to break ground at the beginning of April.
Director of Buildings and Grounds Randy Prenger said he has been speaking with architect lines concerning lighting and water caps for the new high school. He has also spoken with Missouri American Water to confirm the building's needs. He is currently figuring out the next steps to test water filters to replace the current ones, which will significantly reduce the water bill.
Prenger also said the elementary school should soon have new plumbing infrastructure.
"I hope to cover the extent of replacement needed and an estimate for the cost for the budget presentation," he said.
Jones said there is money set aside for roof repair and parking lot light replacement, but the new plumbing is a higher priority. He is also planning projects such as getting new scoreboards for the stadiums, but he would like to wait until the new high school is complete, he said.
Jones said there is $5 million of remaining bonds that are outstanding of the $14 million general obligation bonds approved by patrons in April. He said he plans to transfer some bond money into the construction account in the next few weeks. He said conditions are currently stable and delaying the sale of the bonds until mid-year will save patrons a considerable amount of interest expense and allow for more progress with the no-tax-increase bond issue.
The board also reviewed the budget for fiscal year 2021 and approved the budget amendments for fiscal year 2020. This includes increased operating expenditures for the new high school, adding two certified teachers this year, adding two next year and hiring about 13 additional employees when the high school opens.