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Wayne County school official says $16 million recommendation won for new elementary; district to provide 20% match
Summary
A Wayne County school-board member told the Bicknell Town Council the state funding committee recommended $16 million toward a new elementary; the district expects to supply the required 20% local match and plans site, demolition and utility work. Final state approval is expected in January.
Sean, a school-board member, told the Bicknell Town Council that a state funding committee has recommended $16,000,000 for a new elementary school but that official approval will not come until the state board of education signs off in January. "We're gonna get 16,000,000," he said during public comment, adding the district can supply the required 20% local match and has bonding in place.
Sean described the proposed plan to locate the new elementary toward the east side of the existing middle-school complex, remove the east wing, and eventually use newer portions of the middle-school building for district offices. He said the district hopes to break ground as early as spring if plans proceed as expected and emphasized the project will be staged to avoid having students in classrooms while heavy construction is underway.
Council members raised practical concerns about traffic and utilities. On water and site utilities, Sean said the district expects to coordinate with the town and the contractor to relocate a water line if needed and that the school district will likely cover associated contractor costs. He said the district had set aside contingency funds during the high-school build for similar "soft costs." The district will raise crosswalks, speed zones and flashing school-zone signage with the state when the project reaches that stage.
The presentation also covered building size and capacity: the new elementary is planned as a two-level, roughly 40,000-square-foot building (the existing elementary is about 27,000 square feet), with additional classrooms designed for future growth. Sean and council members discussed maintaining gym access, parking impacts and the potential congestion effect on Main Street.
Sean said he will bring outstanding logistics — including the water-line relocation and crosswalk/crossing-guard responsibilities — to a follow-up meeting next Wednesday. No formal town permit or council action on the school project was recorded during the Dec. 5 meeting; Sean characterized the funding as a committee recommendation pending final state action.
