Ground preparation work underway at future site of new Beatrice elementary school
Dirt will be trucked in to properly compact the site of the new prekindergarten to fifth grade facility
By News Channel Nebraska
BEATRICE – Some preliminary work is underway at the site of a new prekindergarten to fifth grade school in Beatrice District 15. School officials are planning a groundbreaking ceremony in the coming weeks, with Superintendent Jason Alexander telling the school board the date that’s been selected.
"We're kind of targeting September 30th, as a groundbreaking ceremony."
Alexander says work has begun at the roughly 30 acre site at 33rd and Lincoln, where additional dirt will be brought in to get the proper compaction for the project. "So the dirt import will start probably in the next couple of weeks. We've been working with Garrett Freese, the farmer of the site...because we're going to have to build a road....as you come off of Highway 136...down the left side of the corn...we're going to have to build a gravel road there, just to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on 33rd Street."
Some scraping work was being done this week at the site for the new school, which eventually will replace three elementary buildings and a separate preschool with one large facility.
The school district is undertaking the project through the formation of an interlocal agency, which will oversee the bond financing backed by the school district’s building fund. That allows the district to construct the project without asking for additional taxes. Officials hope to begin operating from the new school in the fall of 2024.
A budget schedule outline for this coming year was provided to board members at a committee-level meeting Thursday night. This year, the district will need to comply with a new state law and participate in a special budget hearing with other local agencies who will exceed an allowable growth percentage. That joint public hearing is scheduled for September 26th, with a special school board meeting planned September 29th to approve the school district 15 budget.
Alexander says he doesn’t anticipate any change in the school district’s tax rate.