Knox High School’s vocational wing proposal has gotten bigger and more expensive. The addition has grown from 10,000 to about 14,500 square feet, according to updated plans presented by Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart to the school board Tuesday, with the projected cost going from $2.5 to $3.89 million.
“After meeting with SCILL and after meeting with [North Central Vocational Educational Cooperative director] Albert Hanselman and the instructors and administrators, the space has grown almost 50 percent,” Reichhart explained.
The current proposal calls for an 1,800-square-foot space for robotics, separate labs and classrooms for both welding and agriculture, and a 1,400-square-foot greenhouse that wasn’t part of the original plans. But the school board wasn’t completely sold on the idea of a more expensive addition with a lot of extra space, when there are other unfunded needs that have been discussed for years, like roofing upgrades.
One of the things that the project has going for it is that the school corporation has the money. Between leftover project bond revenues and federal COVID-19 relief, Reichhart said the school corporation is in a unique position to add the wing without raising taxes. “A year from now, two years from now, three years from now, staff will not remember if they got a stipend, but you will always be able to look out there and see that you got something that you’ll always have that greenhouse, you’re always going to have this vocational wing, even when the ESSER money goes away,” Reichhart said.
The school board will discuss plans further with the architect and construction manager later this month.
