Math, science center nearing completion

SIKESTON -- Finishing touches are being put on Sikeston High School's math and science building.

"It will be finished by Christmas," said Sikeston R-6 construction manager Randy Bratton of Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC in Memphis, Tenn.

Following Tuesday's regular Sikeston R-6 Board of Education meeting held in the newly renovated high school library, board members and others in attendance took a tour through the up-and-coming math and science center. Currently workers are installing millwork and will begin installing ceiling tile, flooring and miscellaneous special items like lockers and fire extinguishers, Bratton said.

Some senior girls who attended the board meeting for a class project stuck around for the tour of the facility and were pleased with what they saw.

"This is amazing," Kasey Ray said as she scanned the building. "I can't wait." Ray will have a class in the building when the second semester begins in January.

"We were so used to the old buildings it doesn't seem like we're at Sikeston High school," Quinn Kaiser said.

The girls agreed the large hallways -- which are 14 feet wide from wall to wall, the large classrooms and the giant bathrooms are major attractions of the building.

"It's every girls dream -- all those mirrors," Emily Taylor said after viewing the girls bathroom.

Prior to the tours, the board approved three change orders for various bid packages for the math and science center. The plumbing bid package was amended by an increase of $7,200.

Superintendent Steve Borgsmiller said the amount was originally included in documents when the bid was awarded to K&K Construction and Mechanical last February, but for some reason it was inadvertently left off contract documents so it needed to be corrected.

The next change order was to add $261 to the millwork/casework bid package to modify lab casework and countertops and to accommodate the existing location of the electrical conduit rough-in out of the concrete slab in some classrooms and labs.

As a result, the last change order approved by the board decreased the electrical bid by $261 to accommodate the field conditions.

Also on Tuesday, the board approved filing dates for school board candidates of the April 3 election.

Filing will begin at 8 a.m. Dec. 12 at the office of board secretary Rice P. Burns, 733 N. Main St., in Sikeston. Filing will end at 5 p.m. Jan. 16. Board members whose terms will expire are Paul Boyd and Mary White-Ross.

Mike Brown, R-6 director of building and grounds, briefed the board with the status of summer projects.

"In the summer we usually have one major project, and this year we had three projects," Brown said. "We had our plates full but we enjoyed it."

Renovations at the track are almost complete, Brown said. Fencing still has to be installed, but he said it should be done by the spring season.

The repositioning of the main entrance at A building on the high school campus is finished; however, a canopy still needs to be installed, Brown said. The third project, the renovation of the high school library, is completely finished, he said.