Sedalia 200 Board Discusses Plans for Early Childhood Building

On Monday night, the Sedalia 200 Board of Education met at Parkview Elementary School and discussed future plans for a new Early Childhood Co-Op Building.

The discussion comes as part of long-range planning due to a growing number of students who could benefit from the co-op, currently located at Sedalia Middle School and providing free services for disabled students in Pettis County.

Board members have been discussing the possible construction of a new building since 2016.

Several proposals have been discussed in that time. One proposal for a new co-op building mentioned at Monday's meeting would also include space for the Sedalia 200 district office.

The district says that administration officials and members of LJ Hart & Company show a cost of just over $6,000,000 for a new facility. It was noted that with available funds, the district would not have to use reserve funds. An anonymous donor has also pledged $1,000,000 towards the project.

Sedalia 200 Superintendent Steve Triplett indicated that office space and parking is becoming an issue at the district office. Information in the board packet says that moving the early childhood co-op to a new location will open up approximately 20,000 sq. feet of usable space at the Sedalia Middle School. Triplett noted that student safety and more space for disabled students are big factors in the proposed idea for a new facility.

Board members are expected to make a decision regarding the process of beginning construction for a new co-op facility at the December 17 meeting. If approved, the new facility would be located near Tiger Pride Blvd and expected to open for the 2020-2021 school year. Discussions will continue to take place in order to work out finer details.

In other action, the board also approved an additional para-educator position due to a number of students who qualify for early childhood special education. DESE would fund the position with no cost to the district.

Board members approved an HVAC bid for the Maintenance Warehouse. Bids were received from Home Heating and Air from Sedalia and Premier Climate Control in Green Ridge. The board accepted the low bid from Premier Climate Control in the amount of $22,690.00.

The dates for board candidate filing was also approved. Terms of board members David Wolf and Diana Nichols are expiring in April 2019. The candidate filing dates are set for December 11 through January 15. it was noted that Wolf is not seeking reelection.

Towards the end of meeting, the board expressed gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hicks for donating $377.00 at the end of October to help clear-out outstanding lunch accounts.