By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph school officials had thought they had hired a firm to guide implementation of the $20 million bond issue approved by voters earlier this month.
They acted a bit too early, though.
The St. Joseph School Board approved a $1.3 million contract with S. M. Wilson of St. Louis as the construction/management team overseeing the projects, then rescinded it, because the action violated state law.
School Superintendent Gabe Edgar says the board will vote again during its next meeting.
“We kind of learned from our experience,” Edgar tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “We were trying to be proactive and it caught up with us. And so, we’ll back up and one thing that I can make a promise is we’ll do what’s best for the community and the school district together.”
Edgar says school officials met with representatives of L. J. Hart & Company, the district’s financial advisor, the day after the bond issue passed. They sought to outline the next steps in issuing the bonds to pay for the project outlines in the campaign.
The district reported the action by the school board to enter a contract with S. M. Wilson “…violated a technical piece of the state statute as it relates to timing of the announcement of the RFQ for the hiring of a Construction Manager at Risk.” To ensure compliance, the district will backtrack.
The campaign backing the bond issue outlined several projects. Turf fields will replace grass fields at the high school football stadiums with aging tracks replaced at a cost of $6.5 million. The district will spend $3.2 million on fine arts programs, such as upgrades to all high school theatres. Elementary schools will receive new stage sound systems and screen equipment. Seven elementary schools will receive kilns for their art rooms. A district-wide intercom system will be installed at an estimated cost of $2 million. A bit more than $2 million will be used to make heating and cooling improvements to Robidoux, Pershing, Edison, Mark Twain, Spring Garden, Pickett, and Field elementary schools. Hosea Elementary will get three new classrooms. New roadways will be built for Oak Grove and Carden Park elementary schools. Sidewalk repairs are scheduled for Spring Garden.
Edgar says the district wants to get started on the projects as soon as possible.
“The timelines are a little bit different and we want to, obviously a lot of these things are timely, especially with the turf fields, and so we want to be cognizant of that,” Edgar says. “That is part of the planning process is choosing the option that will take the least amount of time.”
The St. Joseph School Board is scheduled to next meet on Monday, April 29th.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.