Knox High School’s proposed vocational wing has taken another step forward, despite the increase in scope and cost. Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart says the school board agreed last week to seek bids according to the latest design.
“Once bids are received, they can reject all bids and determine that they want to cut the project down or not do it at all,” he notes. “So that was part of the financial discussion of last Monday night.”
The size of the proposed addition had increased by about 4,000 square feet. That and the increase in materials costs upped the price by more than $1 million. Reichhart says the board ended up including the proposed entrance canopy and greenhouse addition but listing them as alternates, allowing them to be easily dropped if bids come in high.
Separate from the vocational wing, the school board also added almost $30,000 worth of items into the current building project. The bulk of that will be for new carpeting in the kindergarten classrooms. “If you recall, we had a $3.5 million surplus after we received the initial bids on our building project, and the board has been very conscientious about spending that money,” Reichhart says, “and these would be some of those items that the board felt was relevant and prudent to purchase under Phase 3 additional items.”
Reichhart says that also included a new ice machine, dryer, and mailboxes.
