Open House at the New Macon Elementary Addition

Last Night the Macon R-I School District held an Open House for the New Macon Elementary Addition. The School Board was there to present the Addition with Superintendent Scott Jarvis, Assistant Principal Marshall Gingrich, Elementary Principal Susan Hazen and Assistant Principal Stacy Quinn. Board President Donny Wyatt thanked the pubic for attending and all the work done by the Board. Board Members include Steve Burns, Bill Noyes, Kevin Linear, Joe Claypoole, Chris Nelson, Carrie Bergfield and Becky Baldwin as Secretary. President Wyatt also acknowledged the work of retired board member Jerry Martie on the project. President Wyatt went over the project with those that attended before allowing the public to view the rooms.

The projected cost of the Addition was 4.25 Million the anticipated cost will be 4 million with all the remaining funds applied to the debt. The Thirty-nine cent tax approved by the voters has a 15-year sunset date or sooner if the building is paid off early. It adds Fifteen new class rooms which will house the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and is approximately 18,000 square foot. One of the classrooms will be used for a keyboarding class which use to be housed the Cafeteria. The new addition also includes a new elementary library and a new teacher workroom. Two of the new classrooms are constructed as Safe Rooms, with reinforced concrete for both the walls and ceilings. The rooms are connected with an interior door and windows that do not open. The new addition is equipped with state-of-the-art technology throughout the building. There will also be a new drop-off and pick-up area for the parents of Elementary students which is still be constructed. New intruder resistant doors were also installed in the School District. The new addition also allowed for the playground to be moved to behind the Elementary and will feature a new poured rubber surface. The previous site of the Playground will be converted to parking for the Teachers, which will free up space in the circle driveway. Wyatt also acknowledged a $20,000 grant the was applied for and received by Mrs. Quinn for work on the playground.

Mr. Jarvis then spoke about the work and effort that has been put into the project. Mr. Jarvis also stated that the teacher parking lot is not expected to be ready by the opening day of school and to expect the same traffic in the circle drive as in previous years. Mr. Wyatt then added that the other projects in the District including the multi-purpose field are separate projects that was not funded by the tax increase.