ELKINS — lkins School District has developed a tentative plan for its new high school and wants nearly $8 million from the state to help pay for it.
Interim Superintendent Tom Louks told the School Board on Tuesday the preliminary drawing of the school with 73,171-square-feet of new space which will cost about $11.4 million.
The Arkansas Division of Public School Facilities and Transportation will pay about two-thirds of the cost at a rate of $156.05 per square foot, based on today’s figures, Louks said.
“This is what we’re asking for,” he told board members. “We have to pay the rest.”
The board has indicated it will wait to hear about state money through the partnership program before deciding on how the district will pay its share. The board could ask for a tax increase or refinance existing debt to come up with about $3.8 million, based on the two-thirds, one-third split.
The facilities division won’t act on any money requests until after the General Assembly allocates money for education in its 2011 session.
“You have a very good chance,” Louks said.
The district and a 30-member facilities steering committee, mostly parents, has been in discussions with architects from Hight-Jackson Associates of Rogers about what is wanted in a new school.
The building, as planned now, will also include 14,000-square-feet in the current high school.
The school board also instructed Louks to begin the process to sell a small house and the land around it that was part of the district’s purchase of 57 acres for the new high school.
The house is on the corner of the property and will not disrupt the land needs for the high school, said Bryan Delozier, school board president.
The land will be surveyed and eventually advertised for sale. Louks said he would need to research the process for the sale and report to the board next month.
At the conclusion of its regular business, the board went into executive session to continue its review of some 30 applicants for the superintendent’s position. The board had its first look at the applications last week.
A schedule for interviews has not been announced. School board member Laren Vaught said the board hopes to begin interviews the first week in April.
The position became open in January with the sudden death of Mike Harris who had been with the district since July 2008. Louks was named in February to guide the district through the end of the current fiscal year, June 30.