Push underway to prepare USD 234 buildings for new year

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo On a hot Thursday afternoon, workers position an air conditioning unit being lowered by a crane onto the roof of Fort Scott High School. Work continues this summer to prepare USD 234 school buildings for the first day of classes Sept. 1.

USD 234 and Nabholz Construction Services are in the midst of an effort to get school buildings ready for the upcoming school year.

Summer work on the district's two-year $40.8 million school bond projects includes HVAC, plumbing and electrical, as well as classroom remodels and construction of high-wind shelters at all four schools. Nabholz is the construction manager at-risk for the projects and handles bidding and subcontracting for project work. Projects involve several district-wide safety, security, energy and technological improvements.

Workers aim to get schools functional by the time school starts on Sept. 1. Furniture and other items were moved out of schools and stored in late May. Plans are to begin moving everything back into buildings in August.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham said Wednesday the question he has recently been asked most by parents and other residents is whether schools will be ready by the first day of school.

"We will be in school September 1, and we will be safe," Beckham said. "For the most part, I think it will be business as usual everywhere except the high school. It will be a little messy at the high school to start the year."

Robby Manthei, project manager for Nabholz, has said work at the high school makes up the largest part of the bond project budget and is the "most challenging" in terms of mechanical, electrical and plumbing.

The projected date for completion of larger areas and "turnover to the school" is Aug. 21.

Beckham said work at the high school is "a little behind" schedule.

"The shelter and administration area will not be done by the time school starts," he said. "We will start the school year there a little bit like we ended last school year. We will still be bussing kids to the middle school for some classes. We hope to get music students back to the high school by the time school starts."

The new auxiliary gym being built at the school is expected to be complete by November, the one-story science wing by Oct. 10 and the new administration area the week of Sept. 19. Other wings are expected to open the week of Aug. 22, according to architectural documents.

Beckham said two new math rooms will be finished by the start of school.

"That's two more classrooms than we had last year," he said. "The new special ed area, where the old office area was, will be ready. The commons area ceilings and lights will all be in place. They may not finish the floor, we may have a polished concrete slab to start with. They're trying on the flooring by the time school starts."

Beckham said hallways featuring new carpet, paint and ceilings will be done by the time school starts, and new HVAC units will be in place.

"We're trying to get the (current) gym back as soon as possible," he said.

Beckham said temporary walls will be built between the commons area and the new administration office.

"There will be a wall separating construction work from the hallway like last year, and the same thing on the south," he said. "It will be quieter work than last spring when concrete work was done."

He said the only work that should be planned in classrooms and learning spaces during the school year will be "hooking up new technology."

"They won't be working alongside students," he said.

Work at Fort Scott Middle School includes new flooring in various corridors, a new secure entry and high-wind shelter. Nabholz is aiming for a completion date of mid-November for finishes inside the shelter. The middle school is expected to be fully functional when school starts, with the exception of the shelter and finishes, officials said.

"All new flooring is down in the hallways," Beckham said. "They're almost ready to complete the secure entry on the west side of the building. The preliminary work is finished and in a couple days all the glass and hardware comes in."

Beckham said pre-cast concrete panels for the high-wind shelter are set, and the structure should be complete by October.

"That's not going to be problematic," Beckham said of the shelter not being completed before the start of school.

Summer school, which started Tuesday at the middle school, runs through Aug. 19. Repairs to the gym floor at the school are scheduled to start Aug. 8.