Watson Chapel Superintendent Tom Wilson shared that the State of Arkansas has kicked in more money to go towards the new high school building project, and that money will help the district meet the overall budget to get the school built.
Wilson announced that the State originally agreed to kick in $15 million for the project, but they have now increased their part to $21,480,000 total to go towards construction of the new building.
Wilson told Deltaplex News that they got the money because the State increased the amount they will pay for each square foot of space in the building.
The district now has $40 million to go towards the project with the overall cost currently being projected for somewhere between $39.5 to $39.8 million, but Wilson said he is hoping to lower the cost even more.
One issue is the law regarding safe rooms. National law says that your safe room must be able to accommodate 40 students per square foot while state law says 30 students per square foot. The district is working to see if they can go with 30 students per square foot it will help lower costs even more, but with the district having enough money to cover the project they are moving forward.
The board voted to approve a 7.28% increase in pay for all classified employees while also freezing the current salary schedule until the LEARNS Act fully kicks in.
Wilson told Deltaplex News that the 7.28% increase was already built into the contracts, so the district wanted to honor that.
The board voted to hire several new employees at Monday night’s meeting. One of those new employees will be Dee Davis, who has been hired as Assistant Superintendent. Davis will replace LaDonna Spain, who is moving on to become the Superintendent at Hermitage.
Wilson shared why he felt like Davis was the right person for the job.
The board also approved numerous resignations, but Wilson said there were less this year than they have had in previous years.
The Watson Chapel School District is scheduled to provide a full list of employees that were hired at Monday night’s meeting later this week.
