By Emily Younker
Globe Staff Writer
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. —
Many of the upgrades and renovations taking place around Carl Junction schools will soon be done, said Superintendent Phil Cook.
“Within a couple of weeks, everything should be completed, which gives us a week or two to get ready for school,” he said.
Much of the work is being funded by a $1 million bond issue that voters approved in November. That bond issue, which did not raise the debt-service levy of 82 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, financed:
n Replacement of heating and air-conditioning units in the kindergarten and first-grade building.
Lighting and restroom upgrades in the second- and third-grade building.
Roof replacement and air conditioning in the intermediate building.
Improved access to vocational agriculture programs at the high school.
Paving of the school bus area and the addition of a covered bus bay.
Although most of the work will be completed soon, Cook said a few of the projects will likely stretch into mid-August.
Construction crews are expected to start pouring concrete at the bus barn this week, but the work could “go longer” than next week, he said.
He said air-conditioning units for the intermediate building’s gymnasium haven’t arrived yet, so “we’re a couple of weeks out on that before we even get the units here.”
In other news, the Carl Junction R-1 School District recently was honored by the state for having kept at least 90 percent of its school buses properly maintained after annual inspections over a 20-year period, said Woody Shoemaker, the district’s transportation supervisor.
“It’s a real honor,” Shoemaker said. “Our buses are among the best in the state. It’s something I think we should be proud of.”
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recognizes districts and contractors whose buses pass the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s spring school bus inspection on the first inspection, said Michele Clark, communications coordinator. The department, which has been tracking the patrol’s inspection data since 1989, also recognizes programs whose buses have routinely met these criteria, she said.
A total of 224 school districts and contractors were recognized this month during the Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation conference in Springfield, Clark said.
And for the first time, two school districts — Carl Junction and Parkway, in St. Louis County — received the 20-year inspection award from the department, she said.
