Mid Valley Reporter

Bond update

As we are progressing through the refining of the design process, the architects get budget estimates for current plan iterations. The last time this was done, we were about five million dollars over our construction budget. While this seems like a lot, both the architects (IBI) and our project management firm (HMK) assured us that it was very typical, even on the lower end, of what they usually see at this stage. 

What this means is that we have to continue to modify, refine and reduce in certain places in order to meet all of our highest priority bond objectives. As with all projects, there is always a longer wish list than there is funding available! One of the areas for change that became apparent quite quickly was to eliminate the move of 5th grade over to the MS/HS campus. When this was proposed as part of the plan it was done so in order to allow for growth at the elementary school, where we use all the classrooms currently. 

Amity as a town is expected to continue to grow over the next decade and beyond, and the type of housing that we are anticipating will likely have significant numbers of school-aged children. This is a good challenge to have as a school, but one that can be addressed in multiple ways. By keeping the 5th graders at the elementary school, we can save about $600,000 on the construction project, helping us get closer to maximum construction cost we can afford. 

Also, I think it is important to note that moving 5th grade was probably the least popular part of the bond proposal! The board voted on making this change to the plans at their last meeting after listening to input from IBI, HMK and school administrators. 

Throughout this bond process the ultimate goal is to provide a great place for our kids to attend school for decades to come. As a district we want to be good stewards of the funds and facilities entrusted to us. This modification does not hamper that goal and helps us maintain our financial values. Thank you for the great community support we have experienced through this process co far. For more details about the bond and construction process, please visit 

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