After spending some $667,000 over the last year on projects and preparing for others, District 55 has nearly as much money in its bond as it started with; but school officials warned that bond money would soon begin decreasing rapidly as major projects are started.
The School District 55 Bond Oversight Committee received an update on the status of an $18.6 million bond passed last year for a variety of school projects.
Since last summer, the district has earned some $610,000 in interest on the bond while spending about $667,000, leaving $18.6 million available for bond projects.
Some $266,000 has been spent so far on building a new gym at the high school. The district has spent $61,000 at Hawthorne, where it is building eight new classrooms. Other larger projects completed include heating and lighting control at Hawthorne, $27,000, and the junior high, $65,000 and bleachers at the junior high, $33,000, and Foster, $21,000.
The figures are good through May 1.
The district is putting together roofing information and will begin putting bids out in the next few weeks. Roofing projects will be spread over three years with a third of the projects completed this summer.
The School District signed a contract with Morris P. Kielty for $951,000 on May 6 for the Hawthorne classroom project. Work has started on the project.
A building originally built as a kindergarten classroom was slated to be demolished in the project, but the district learned it could be saved for use later for a couple thousand dollars. The building has been moved to make room for the new classrooms.
Modular units that had been used as classrooms have been moved to the transportation yard where they will serve as offices pending approval by the Sweet Home Planning Commission.
The Hawthorne project was originally estimated at $670,000, during the bond campaign. The project originally included remodeling in the gym, but that particular project was eliminated in favor of classroom space.
Money saved from some of what had been budgeted for Pleasant Valley Kindergarten will be used to help cover the higher costs of the Hawthorne project. Pleasant Valley was closed for next school year by the board to help reduce costs in the district. The district is working with possible tenants for the building.