By Sam Parsons

The Pella Community School Board met last night and received a presentation from Neumann Monson about the current state of their High School HVAC, Tennis Complex, and Early Childhood Center projects, and also reviewed possible designs for their planned project for the Jefferson Intermediate and Middle School complex.

The High School HVAC project is already substantially completed and after change orders, the budget for it came out to roughly $3.75 million; the Tennis Complex is slated to be completed in spring of 2023 and is projected to cost about $4.3 million; and the Early Childhood Center remains in the planning phase.

The Jefferson Intermediate and Middle School project is currently projected to cost roughly $22.5 million and entails the construction of a new building in between the schools that will support the 6th grade level as well as music classes, along with some renovations to both schools and the parking lots. No action was taken, but the next phase of the project will be design development, which is expected to be finished this year, with the aim for construction to be complete by September-October 2024.

The board also approved a new bus driver incentive program to implement a $2,000 bonus to new bus drivers with the school district who meet certain criteria. 

The Pella Community School Board will hold their next regular meeting on November 28.