The South Pike School District has cleared the final hurdle in its construction plans for school campuses, with the adoption of a resolution on Monday to issue $3.25 million in notes.
The district lost twice at the polls when larger bond issues were put to a public vote. No petition requesting an election on the bond issue was presented to the board on Monday, as allowed by law and outlined in a legal notice in the Enterprise-Journal.
The district will repay the money by continuing a 3-mill tax levy for up to 20 years. The current 3-mill levy paid for the Eva Gordon Elementary School cafeteria and is rolling off the books.
The $3.25 million will be used for various construction and repair projects — essentially the same ones put to voters last year.
They include building 15 classrooms at Eva Gordon, replacing the gym floor at Magnolia Elementary School, heating and air conditioning classrooms and the Willie E. Jones Coliseum and paying for roof projects at Osyka Elementary, Eva Gordon and at the junior high.
The funds also would go toward improving school recreational and athletic property.
With the added classrooms at Eva Gordon, the district will relocate the seventh and eighth grades back to the Eva Gordon campus, where students will have access to a separate gymnasium and football practice facility. The campus will then serve grades K-8.
In a related issue, the board agreed to contract with McComb architect Steve Cox to oversee the projects.
Superintendent Dr. Bill Gunnell said he and chief of operations Dana Fleming interviewed numerous architectural firms to select the best company for the job. Along with Cox, the district heard from representatives of JBHM, Landry & Lewis, Singleton Architects and JH&H architectural firms.
Two of them were not able to promise to deliver the work under the given time restraints. In addition, Cox submitted the lowest estimate of cost per square foot at $110. The highest was $200.
“Looks like Steve wins the race,” said South Pike trustee John Hilbert.
“Every once in a while, it’s good to do a reality check,” Gunnell said of the interview process. “Steve is familiar with a lot of the projects already.”
