Mt. Vernon Register-News

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July 19, 2011

$72M available for new MVTHS

By RORYE O’CONNOR rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Mt. Vernon Township High School can build a new school costing up to $72 million, administrators said Monday night.

The MVTHS Board of Education approved a resolution verifying the availability of District 201’s local share of school construction grant funds.

MVTHS Superintendent Mike Smith said the Illinois Capital Development Board approved the amount based on its survey and site visit of the current campus.

June 30 was the deadline for schools on the 2003 construction list to certify local matching grants through the School Construction Grant Program.

Smith said he has been told that that CDB hopes to wrap up the approval process by the end of August, but that reprioritizing of the list may not be completed until December.

“We are hopeful grant awards could begin to be announced in the fall,” he said.

In April, voters within District 201 approved a referendum authorizing the district to bond $19.8 million to build a new school at a new location.

Smith said the district has a year of design work planned before bids will start to be let for construction materials and services.

He said he expects the total cost to be less than the $72 million available, and if it is, the funds will be prorated and remaining funds will go to other school districts behind District 201 in line.

“When the bids are let, we expect them to be significantly less (than $72 million),” he said.

Smith said a site selection committee has narrowed a list of 17 potential construction sites for the new school campus.

The committee went through a four-step process to screen the sites, he said.

He declined to state how many finalists the committee has chosen.

“Right now, actual negotiations have not started, so we’re not releasing those at this time,” he said.

In other business, the board:

  • Approved the employment of Cheryl Allen, a special education coordinator, Beth Snyder, a cook, Tammy Hendricks, an administrative secretary for the Freshman Academy, Jan Neibert, administrative secretary, Jeff Scarbrough, assistant girls’ soccer coach and Jim Duncan, assistant boys’ soccer coach, and;
  • Approved the resignations of Katelyn Kombrink, girls’ physical education teacher, Kara Andrews, guidance counselor and Jara Fetcho, business teacher.

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