In a facilities meeting held Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Zachary Community School Board received updates on current construction projects within the school district.
Henry Carville, of Bani, Carville and Brown, is the architect for the new first- and second-grade school, Rollins Place Elementary. He gave the board the following updates.
Rollins Place is set to open Jan. 22 and teachers began moving items in last Thursday.
Zachary Elementary, which currently houses second- and third-graders, will soon be undergoing construction for a new two-story classroom building.
Once complete, ZES will teach third- and fourth-grade pupils.
The Alexandria firm of Ratcliffe Construction submitted a low bid of $10,246,000 for the two-story building plus other improvements on the ZES campus.
The board accepted the low bid, but Carville explained that due to the high cost of steel, bids are coming in higher than usual.
The total cost of the project, once an East Baton Rouge Parish sewer impact fee of $84,148 is added, will include an additional $250,000 in furniture and equipment costs, bringing the project total to about $11.2 million.
The initial budget for the project was set at $11.3 million. Carville and the board are looking into ways of lowering the cost of the project including renovating furniture from the old school building.
In other school board news:
SCHOOL SAFETY: Superintendent Scott Devillier recently met with all the principals of the schools, as well as with Mayor David Amrhein and Police Chief David McDavid concerning safety and emergency contingency plans at all the schools.
Devillier and school officials discussed thru-traffic at the schools, door-locking systems and the possibility of placing an SRO officer at each school within the district.
The discussions were held in light of the recent school shooting in Newton, Conn.
No final plans or changes were made, and Devillier said he plans to meet again with school officials.
BOARD OFFICERS: Gaynell Young was elected the new board president, succeeding Jannie Rogers, and David Dayton was elected vice president.
The Zachary Community School Board will meet again on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m.
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