Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

District Presses Pause on $13M in Construction Projects

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/14/21

The St. Clair R-XIII School District in St. Clair, Mo., announced last week that it will delay several planned construction projects due to a spike in the cost of materials. The school board voted on Thursday, June 10, to pause the wheels of construction on a bus bay ($1.644 million), a new auditorium ($11-12 million), and a pickup and drop-off loop ($340,000).

At the board meeting, members cited the example of lumber costs. A two-by-four was slated to cost $14, while members recalled the same product costing between $2 and $5 during previous, personal home renovation projects.

Other projects will continue, including the installation of a $444,000 safety vestibule in the elementary and junior high schools; and renovations at St. Clair Junior High consisting of a handicap-accessible toilet stall to a women’s restroom ($27,500); a family restroom ($28,200); and installing $3,500 in vestibule carpeting. Work will also continue on projects already in progress, including a $413,000 track and a $386,000 grandstand.

All of the above projects, both those slated to continue and those that have been delayed, were intended to be funded by a $12.75 million bond issue that voters passed in June 2020.

“I want to pause on a lot of things,” said district superintendent Dr. Kyle Kruse. “I have a hard time really wanting to pause on safety.”

According to the original terms of the bond issue agreement, the money must be spent within three years of receiving it. The bond issuer, LJ Hart & Co., has said that it will consider extending the deadline under reasonable circumstances. The school board said at its June 2 meeting that it will return to the delayed projects “in a few months” to price-check construction materials.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.