The New Albany-Floyd County school district in southern Indiana has started work on several school projects, as it spends nearly $90 million approved through a Nov. 2016 referendum to fix several failing facilities.
“This is a historic day for the fact that this is the first construction referendum in southern Indiana that was successful,” superintendent Bruce Hibbard said in a report posted by WDRB-TV. “We feel so grateful to the community that they supported that.”
An outline of the bond funding
The largest project, $21 million, will be to expand and renovate the Prosser Career Education Center that has been mostly untouched since the 1970s.
The project should be completed by December 2018.
At Green Valley Elementary, $18.5 million will build a brand new, state-of-art school, set to be finished in August 2018.
“These schools will be state-of-the-art, so what a wonderful thing for our kids,” said Becky Gardenour, president of the New Albany-Floyd County School Board. “I mean, we will be above and beyond other school systems.”
More than $16 million will create another new school at the current site of Slate Run Elementary, scheduled to be finished by December 2019.
“We already have a great school here,” said Megan Bliss, a teacher at Slate Run. “Our staff is wonderful, our principal is great, our students are lovely, and we just want the building to match.”
“It’s a win-win for everyone, because our community will grow as a result of this, and our students will be successful,” Gardenour said.
Seven schools will be upgraded over next few years.
