The Urbana City Schools building project is moving forward, with site surveys being done at each building site and state project requirements submitted.
The school board approved design stage requirement submissions for the high school and the elementary/middle school buildings at its Tuesday meeting. The documents list square footage requirements for the buildings and include classroom, hallway, office and other specifics for each building. The building sizes are set by the state based on predicted student enrollment for each building.
Those square footage requirements will be used by the architects to design the two buildings, Superintendent Charles Thiel said.
School district representatives, architects and construction personnel are developing plans for the construction of a pre-kindergarten to grade eight building on land off Community Drive and the rebuilding of the high school on its current site. The $68 million project was approved by voters, who will pay 39 percent of the cost while the state pays the rest.
The elementary/middle school building has been the most problematic, as the land it will be built on is undeveloped. School district and city of Urbana officials have been in discussions of how to access the new school site regarding road and utilities improvements. The district is leaning toward having a main entrance from extending Community Drive to the new school building and extending Boyce Street for a secondary access for staff, school buses and emergency vehicles.
Design teams of the architects and representatives from the high school and elementary/middle school buildings are working through September to develop what those two new buildings will look like. The goal is to have site plans to the city of Urbana for review in early October, Thiel said.
In other action, the board:
•Approved the Memorandum of Understanding with the Urbana Association of Classroom Teachers correcting an error in the signed negotiated agreement.
•Accepted donations of $4,000 to Urbana High School from Ned Kirby Foundation for the Shoup Schools; $3,095 for buddy benches at three school sites from the Dorsey Family, the Lawson Family, Janet Eubanks, First Christian Church, Custom Sportswear, and Peoples Savings Bank; $373.30 to Urbana Junior High for the Washington and Kirkmont trips from Climber Club Teacher Allotments; and $2,800 to the Urbana City Schools Mobile Lunch Program from Civista Bank and Sarah Finch.
•Approved Larry Saunders as a 2/3 time teacher for the 2015-16 school year.
•Approved Adam Conrad as a site manager for the 2015-16 school year.
•Approved the resignation of Elmo Layman from the Urbana Community School Board of Directors, effective Aug. 6, 2015.
