Scott Central to get new gym

SIKESTON - On April 6 the Scott County Central School District was anxious to hear that the people voted yes for the $1.9 million general obligation bond issue.

"The board and district have known for a while the need of this expansion for the school, but we had to wait until the plan could financially succeed without raising the citizen's taxes," Scott Central's Superintendent JoAnne Northern said.

And the plan is now a go, while the citizen's will not be paying anymore out of their pockets.

The current debt service levy is $1.19 per $100 assessed valuation, and that will not change. With voting yes on the bond issue the people have chosen to put a continuation on the debt service levy.

The expansion project was backed by a Building Committee composed of 29 community leaders, staff members and students. Josh Boley at student at Scott Central and a Building Committee member explained, "We looked at several different factors to determine what facility needs were appropriate for the school."

The architect that designed the new facilities for the district is Arnold Porterfield out of Poplar Bluff, and is the same person who designed the original Scott Central School.

There are three aspects to the renovations and new additions at Scott County Central.

The first being the addition of a new Junior High wing for the seventh and eighth grade students. This wing will include four classrooms, new lockers, restrooms and storage space for the Junior High students.

"This will allow the seventh and eighth grade students to have their own identity in a separate classroom area, and allow for a smoother transition into high school," Northern said.

Another aspect to this bond issue is the expansion of the Scott Central Early Learning Center. This is a program for kids ages three to four to enroll in a preschool program. "After receiving our state license and getting the program started it has been a success," Northern said. "We currently have 15 kids in the program with a waiting list that keeps getting longer, but with the expansion we hope to double the size of the program."

And finally the Scott Central School District will be adding a new gymnasium on to the south side of the current school.

The new gymnasium will be air-conditioned unlike the current one and will hold 1,100 spectators. It will provide two new locker rooms and then the two remaining locker rooms from the old gym will be renovated.

"This larger facility will provide us the opportunity to add new curriculum and new offices to the school," Northern explained. "It will also give us the chance to host tournaments in the future which we can't currently because of the lack of space we have."

Along with the bigger court and expansion of seating, the new addition will provide a much larger concession and lobby area, with a new entrance into the gymnasium.

"This is a great boost for the student's moral, it gives them a greater since of school pride, and can be a focal point for the community," Northern said.

The Scott County Central School District has also received a waiver from the state for them to receive the MSIP, which is the Missouri school improvement program.

This waiver was granted because of the improved performance of the schools academic level.

"This is a big positive for the district, and shows that we are on the right track," Northern said. "We are recognized a lot by our sports program, but with our academics moving forward at such an impressive pace the future of Scott County Central is infinite."

Northern said the Scott County Central School District is unique with it having three community's including Haywood, Morley and Vanduser to support it. She added that everyone has shown great cooperation and if it wasn't for them none of this would be happening.

The projected date of completion is set for the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.