In the fall of 1960, I was in the first kindergarten class in our elementary school! Sixty years later, we are going to totally remodel the building to meet the needs of future generations of Lisbon elementary students. At last night’s school board meeting, the board voted 5-0 to proceed to bid new additions and remodeling of the elementary and middle school buildings. The elementary school would have new construction to the southwest entrance including administrative, counseling and kindergarten classroom. This would become the main secured entrance to the elementary school with drop-off and additional sidewalk and curb protection for our students. The northeast entrance will also be completely remodeled including enclosed space with ADA lift and new steps. Inside of the elementary, the current library would become a technology lab with the old kindergarten room becoming the library. We will improved storage, mechanical system upgrades, and existing toilet rooms will be completely remodel. In addition, new fire protection system, surveillance cameras, paging/intercom system, and other security upgrades. The middle school will have new construction to main entrance with administrative and counseling space with security at ground level to have access to the elevator for complete ADA access. The current special education space on the ground floor will become the work area and room for small group meetings. The current third floor office and staff work room space will be remodeled to meet our special education needs. The middle school will also get new fire protection system as well as new surveillance cameras and security systems. The preliminary project schedule will see bid documents in early February with bid approval in early March of 2020. New construction will begin in early May with all interior renovation completed before school starts in the fall of 2020. All new construction is scheduled to be completed by January 29, 2021, with the exceptions of minor landscaping, sidewalk and asphalt updates, which should be done by late spring. The total cost of the project is estimated at $4.118 million including additional options and construction contingency estimates of 5%. The district plans to use building fund reserves and limited tax building fund bonds to pay for the project with no increases in our current building fund levy or general fund levy. The bond market is very good at this time and is projected to be under 3%. We currently have only one small construction loan balance of under $60,000. The building fund will still have around 10 mills available to help with other facility needs. We will keep you posted on the progress of this very exciting building project!
Justin Fryer, Superintendent
