EM board approves motion for new Malvern K-12 facility

 

The East Mills Community School District will put a bond issue in front of voters this fall that if passed would consolidate the district’s two schools in a remodeled and reshaped K-12 building in Malvern.

The East Mills School Board accepted the recommendation of the East Mills Facilities Committee and unanimously approved a motion to issue a bond referendum that will go to voters Sept. 14. The project would include a renovation of the existing junior-senior high building and an addition that would include new classrooms, gymnasium, weight room, common space and secure entrances that would double the size of the current building. The project also includes improvements to the athletic fields, parking lots and site access.

The total cost of the bond would not exceed $22 million, according to East Mills Superintendent Tim Hood. The measure would need a 60 percent “super majority” pass.

When completed, the new East Mills K-12 building and campus would be a state-of-the-art facility that would stand the test of time, Hood said.

“Every district we touch in our district, has updated their facilities,” he said. “Now it’s time for our students to have nice things too.”

East Mills currently utilizes two buildings: the junior-senior high in Malvern and the pre-K/elementary school building located eight miles to the east on Highway 34.

A building and facilities upgrade had long been discussed in East Mills, but the project began to gain traction in the last year. The new plan came about after six community engagement meetings and the results of multiple surveys sent to district families.

As part of the bond plan, the board also approved the formation of a focus group to decide what is to be done with the current elementary school campus.

Hood said the hope is, if the bond passes, the district can sell that property to offset construction costs for the new project. The district sold the former Chantry Elementary School building in Malvern last year.

Architectural firm Alley Poyner Macchietto will design the new K- 12 project and Boyd Jones will handle construction. A site plan and architectural renderings of the new building and campus are currently in the works.

Hood said the input gathered from the public meetings and the surveys was invaluable in the information gathering phase leading up to the facilities committee’s recommendation and the bond referendum.

“I’d like to publicly thank them,” he said. “The people that have visited with me about it have appreciated how transparent the process has been, that when they came and asked questions, we answered them, and they felt confidence in the information that was shared. The vast majority of the people I talked to from the get-go said we had to do ‘something. Now that something has been decided.”

If the bond issues passes in September, Hood estimates construction could begin by late Spring 2022. Since the project will completed in phases, there’s no competition ti

The Red Oak Express

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