JCPS Buys Land For New School
***UPDATE 12 P.M.***Jefferson City Public Schools says the new high school campus would have multiple academic buildings totaling nearly 90,000 square feet. District officials say the new campus would be focused on small academies of about 500 students, each in a separate building. The campus would also have a new sports complex including new fields for soccer, softball, baseball, tennis, football, track & field, and a practice field for the band. At the conference, school officials said they purchased the land for approximately $3.1 million, or $27,000 per acre. Regardless if the school is built, the district will own the land.Despite some public support of a second high school, the district said two separate schools is too expensive and it creates inequality.”Asking half the community to send their kids to a brand new high school with all the bells and whistles, you’re going to want to do everything you can to make the old one look and feel as new as possible,” said Jefferson City Public Schools Superintendent Brian Mitchell. Mitchell says just renovating the old high school would cost almost as much as the price of the new campus, approximately $80 million.Officials plan to build the complex using a bond and levy issue on the April 2013 ballot. The deadline for the 50 to 55 cent tax increase is mid-January, but that timeline is contingent on talks about the sale of current Jefferson City school buildings. In recent months, the school district has been in talks with Lincoln University and Linn State Technical College about selling the properties.***UPDATE: 9:57 A.M.***The Jefferson City Public School District announced today it has purchased 120 acres of land to build a new high school. The land is near Highway 179 and Mission Drive.The district is still in talks with Linn State and Lincoln University to sell its current property.They want to build a new campus and expect to put this on the April 2013 ballot as a bond levy issue.***ORIGINAL STORY***Jefferson City School leaders are scheduled to make a big announcement Monday morning, regarding the future of the high school.School board members held a closed door meeting beforehand. At 10 a.m., the superintendent will hold a press conference.While we don’t know specific details, the district has been trying to unload the current high school campus to local colleges so it can expand and build a new campus.Check back in for updates on this story.
