Ringgold moves ahead with project
The Ringgold School Board on Thursday moved forward with plans to construct a new middle school next to its Carroll Township high school.
Directors approved issuing new general obligation bonds for the construction of the Ringgold Middle School, which is estimated to cost about $34.7 million, and for other capital projects.
Directors also authorized the district’s engineering firm, HHSDR Architects & Engineers of Pittsburgh, to submit PlanCon Parts A and Part B, which includes the district’s project justification and schematic drawings, to the state Department of Education for review and approval.
“I’m very excited. This is something we’ve been working on for a long time,” said Dr. Karen Polkabla, superintendent. “I feel like we’re moving this school district forward and an important part of that was building a centrally located middle school.”
The construction process is estimated to take about 22 months, said J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR, and the middle school should be completed in the fall of 2017.
The board voted 8-1 in favor of submitting the PlanCon to the PDE, with director Lawrence Mauro opposed.
The board voted unanimously to issue new bonds in the amount of $9,275,000 and to refinance $15,570,000, the remaining balance of a bond that was issued in 2010, after the district’s financial advisor, Public Financial Management, found a favorable interest rate for old bond.
The board also approved refinancing four-year-old bonds, which will save the school district nearly $600,000 in interest.
The bond refinancing will done in two parts.
In the first step, the district will refinance approximately $9.7 million from the 2010 bonds and save an estimated $364,000 in interest. It will refinance the remaining $6.2 million at least two weeks later, with an estimated savings of $196,000.
In other business, the board appointed GeoMechanics Inc. to provide geotechnical engineering services for the middle school project at a cost of $51,210, and appointed Gateway Engineers to provide traffic engineering service at a cost of $11,900.
HHSDR also presented the school board with an five options for renovation at Ringgold Elementary School North, including one that calls for the addition of six classrooms, a new kitchen and air conditioning