SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — It could cost $80 to $84 million to bring Shawnee schools up to current building codes, Shawnee schools’ superintendent shared at a special meeting Monday night. The potential plan would require renovating three schools and replacing one.
Superintendent Jude Meyers shared a recent facilities summary of each of the four Shawnee buildings — the high school, the middle school, Maplewood Intermediate and Elmwood Elementary. Each building received an assessment and a cost to bring that building up to current building codes established in 2017.
The cost to renovate the high school would range from $32 to $33 million. The original high school was first built in 1952 with additions added in 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1967.
The replacement cost for the middle school would range from $28 to 0ver $29 million. The middle school was built in 1924 with additions added in 1938, 1950, 1957, 1959 and 1973.
Maplewood Intermediate School would require somewhere between $7 million and over $8 million dollars to bring it up to code. Maplewood was built in 1969 with an addition added in 1972.
Elmwood Elementary, which currently houses kindergarten through second grades, would need $13 to $14 million to bring the building up to code. Elmwood was built in 1973 and had an addition added in 2006.
“I know it is a tough time out there,” Superintendent Jude Meyers said, “I mean, property taxes are just reassessed, levies are reassessed. So I guess my emphasis is I’m not saying we go to the community. What I am saying is we need to have a plan.
“We owe our district, our students, our families at least a plan, looking to the future, and then when the time is right, then that is something we can move forward with. So what the process we’re about to enter is a process where we actually put that plan together.”
Installing a new turf field in the stadium was also discussed at the meeting. The money for the field upgrade has been raised by a parent committee. When the time is right, that committee wants to turn the money over to the school and have the school make the necessary purchases.
There were questions about what was needed by the board to continue this project. There a is a bit more work that needs to be done before the board can act on the field and scoreboard upgrades at the March regular board meeting to assure that the field project is completed in time for the first football game Aug. 26.
The next scheduled Shawnee school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 15.
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