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Shoemaker Addition to Open in January

From staff reports

The second of two major additions built onto existing school facilities is nearly complete and teachers and students are getting anxious to move into their new rooms.

A four-classroom addition at Shoemaker Elementary School is almost finished which will help alleviate overcrowded classrooms at the growing school.

Danny Meade, Director of Maintenance for Scott County Public Schools, has overseen construction projects at both Shoemaker and Duffield this year, which were built almost entirely by the school’s maintenance crew.

Duffield’s new classrooms were finished earlier this fall and now Shoemaker’s new addition is expected to be open in the next few weeks. Four new classrooms were added at Duffield and another four are nearly complete at Shoemaker. Meade said the cooperative spirit provided by county officials has allowed the school system to build needed facilities without placing a burden on county citizens.

“We as Scott Countians need to realize that the people we have elected to the Board of Supervisors and the School Board are progressive-minded individuals with a willingness to see our county grow,” explained Meade during a tour of the Shoemaker addition. “The spirit of cooperation from these boards made it possible to add the classroom additions at Duffield and Shoemaker without a tax increase or borrowing to complete them.”

According to Meade, the architect estimated the addition at Shoemaker Elementary School of 4,400-square-feet to cost roughly $125 per square foot if the project was contracted out to an outside firm. The total estimated cost for the Shoemaker was projected to cost $555,000. But by allowing the school system’s maintenance crew to do the work at a much reduced cost per square foot of $73 or about $320,000, the county realized a savings of $230,000.

“We need to realize the level of trust and support Division Superintendent Jim Scott, the School Board and I have in the maintenance department to achieve the goals and projects set by them,” Meade added. “The level of dedication by the maintenance crew is overwhelming in trying to provide for the needs of our students. 

“Often I have heard Mr. Scott and the School Board say ‘We need to keep in mind the reason we are here is for the welfare and good of our students.’  This philosophy is found throughout the school system, due, I think, to the level of leadership provided by Mr. Scott and the School Board.”

A delay in the delivery of steel caused the Shoemaker project to run slightly behind schedule. Meade estimated the project was running about six to eight weeks behind. A new gymnasium project is also underway at Duffield Primary School and should be completed in early summer.  Plans are being drawn for a practice gym of the same size at Twin Springs. The Twin Springs project will start early spring.

Inclement weather has also affected construction on the Duffield gym but maintenance workers haven’t wasted any time on the job. Bad weather allowed the crew to complete unfinished work inside the new additions.

Meade said the maintenance department will continue to work in schools this winter.

“We are planning to do more drop ceilings in the various schools, replace doors, and upgrade the HVAC systems,” he noted.

Meade is hoping to give Shoemaker teachers and students a late Christmas present by finishing that project very soon.

“These expansion projects really help our schools to address the issue of space constraints,” Meade concluded.

The maintenance crew also assisted their counterparts in the Scott County Public Service Authority when they installed new water lines to bring public water to Rye Cove High School and Rye Cove Intermediate School. Again, the cooperation between the two groups resulted in much lower costs for the completed water project.

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