The Searcy School District is “looking at starting” on its new animal science building by May 1, according to Assistant Superintendent Dean Stanley.
Stanley told the Searcy School Board that the second set of drawings from architects from Modus Studios out of Fayetteville will be submitted to the construction managers by Jan. 15, and “from that point, in 30 days it has to go to the facilities department [on the state level] to re-review. At that point, it’s like a three-week period of advertising for the bid process. Best-case scenario looks like the next set of bids would come out in mid-March, which would take us through probably the mid to the end of April when the first shovel of dirt would be turned.”
The agriculture building is part of the school district’s plan after a 30-year debt service millage extension was passed in May by 83.61 percent of those who voted (357 for, 70 against). The district has 10.7 debt service mills that were set to expire in 2033 and the extension allows the district to borrow up to $25.5 million to use for projects including the 41,146-square foot animal science building.
The district’s current agriculture building is about 6,000 square feet, and “our desire is to have a facility that is similar to what students would be exposed to if they decide to pursue a career in agriculture or if they go to a university ag program,” Superintendent Dr. Bobby Hart said in April. “Our students deserve to have experiences and environments that encourage them to learn and mirror what they will see in the workforce.
“I don’t want a kid to leave any of our programs and not have been exposed to first-class learning opportunities.”
Agricultural education teacher Addison Safley, who is also the district’s Future Farmers of America advisor, said then that the district is “limited with our current shop space and animal science facilities. We have simply outgrown them. The new facilities will provide larger more modern workspaces which will in turn allow for specialized instruction strategies, additional course offerings, larger projects and the addition of industry grade equipment.”
Saffley said that he and the students “are super excited about the expansion of our program and the opportunities that the new, larger facility will offer.”
He said the interest in the FFA program “has grown beyond what we can physically handle, which leads to us having to turn students away. I’m proud to say that the administration recognized this and set in motion a plan to remedy the issue by hiring a second teacher for the program in 2023. As interest and numbers continued to grow, the district began discussing plans for facility expansion, which has evolved into a state-of-the-art facility that will serve our students, program and community for years to come.”
In adding to the new ag building, the district is adding storm shelters at its four schools without a safe room. Stanley told the board last week that the district got an email letting it know that the high-grade ballistic steel for the storm shelters had made it to the factory and is in the lasering process. He said the district does not know when the completion date will be for this process.
The district is spending $4.4 million on 183 in-classroom safe shelters from National Safety Shelters out of Florida. Hart said in September that the shelters, which will be “built inside every classroom and cafeteria at the district’s three K-3 elementary schools and at SWMS [Southwest Middle School],” take up very little classroom space.
The district had planned to build safe rooms at the schools.
“We felt that in-room protection is the better use of our funds and offers much more protection and security than a standalone building that students would have to move into in the event of inclement weather,” Hart said. “The ballistic steel provides added security in the event of intruders on campus.”
