Whitley County BOE get building project updates

After 31 years, Whitley North Elementary School is getting some new tile flooring in classrooms to replace some tile that is original to the building, and the school will also be getting some new carpeting in the entryways. Best of all, the $400,000 project won’t cost the Whitley County School District one dime out of its general fund.

During its recent regular monthly meeting, the Whitley County Board of Education approved a contract with Engineered Floors to purchase the new flooring for the school. Construction will occur in the summer of 2024.

In addition to the tile surface, which will be in the hallways and classrooms, the district will also install carpet tiles at entrances, which comes in 2’x2’ sections that can easily be replaced if they become stained or worn. The carpet tiles serve as areas where students can wipe off their feet as they enter the building.

Whitley County Superintendent John Siler noted that the vinyl composite tile in the building is original to the building. It requires custodial staff to chemically strip the wax from the floors each year and then put down three to four coats of wax.

“Once we remove the old surface that we currently have, and put this in this summer, this is no wax, which means no stripper has to be purchased in the future and no wax applied. There will be much less maintenance to it,” Siler said.

“At Whitley North, we just finished the HVAC system with all new geothermal, and all new LED lighting. We have done a lot of painting of windows. It is looking really nice.”

Siler noted that replacing the flooring at Whitley North was one of the top items listed in the district facilities plan, which was finished a few months ago.

The district facilities plan is a document that all school districts are required to complete every four years. The plan identifies and organizes each district’s building or facility needs, and ranks those in order or priority.

After the board approved construction related documents for the project, it heard from Ross Sinclair Associates Advisors Vice-President Dr. Bob Tarvin regarding financing for the project.

Local government and school constructions projects are typically paid for by the sale of municipal revenue bonds, which are the equivalent of a home mortgage loan for private individuals.

By selling revenue bonds, government entities usually pay 2-3 percent less interest on their building projects than private entities do.

The project will cost about $400,000, but the district won’t be out any general fund revenue.

Every two years, school districts get financial offers from the School Facilities Construction Commission to pay a certain amount to cover the repayment of the revenue bonds over the course of the life of those bonds.

Tarvin noted that the School Facilities Construction Commission funds will pay for the entirety of this project, which means that the district won’t be out anything.

“It won’t be an outlay of taxes from your local taxpayer,” Tarvin added. “The bonds are all sold in your name, but they (the School Facilities Construction Commission) pay the debt on it.”

Even after using these funds, Whitley County will still have about $780,000 available in School Facilities Construction Commission funds for future projects.

During the meeting, the school board convened a meeting Whitley County School District Finance Corporation, which approved a resolution authorizing the bond sale.

The finance corporation is made up of members of the school board, and is the technical entity responsible for the debt.

Also, during the meeting, the board discussed the status of the Whitley County Middle School track project, which includes resurfacing of the track in addition to other improvements and renovations.

Suzanne Irwin, project architect with Ross Tarrant Architects, told the board that track surfacing began on Oct. 18 and is scheduled to be completed on Oct. 28.

“When that is done, they will do grading and final seeding of any disturbed areas around the track. The striping should occur the week of Oct. 30,” said Irwin, who noted that there were some weather delays.

“This is the only track that is a post-tension concrete track in the state of Kentucky. We are very excited about that for you. It is going to be a very long-standing and sustainable event space for you,” she added.

In addition, the board approved final construction documents to close out several building projects, including: the Whitley North Elementary HVAC upgrades, the Oak Grove Elementary School Cafeteria Expansion, and the Whitley County High School Career and Technical Education Building and the WCHS physical education addition.

Siler noted that after the middle school track and Whitley North flooring projects are completed, the district doesn’t have any other major facilities projects lined up.