BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — A great deal of site prep is taking place on Southeast 144th Street to make way for construction of Bradford’s new combination elementary and middle school.
Superintendent of Schools Will Hartley said the goal is to get construction underway in February.
“So far we are still on track and hopefully we continue to have good weather. The goal for concrete and construction is still February so between now and then the will continue sitework and building up the pad for the school,” Hartley said.
Originally, the district was hoping to receive around $39 million over three years to construct the new campus. Rising construction costs drove the price up, so instead of $13 million this year, the legislature upped this year’s installment to $36 million rather than drag construction out to a fourth year.
The inclusion of additional funding will help preserve the targeted opening in August 2023
Elementary and middle school students in the K-7 school will be divided into separate two-story classroom buildings flanking the administrative building. Both stairwells and elevators will be located in each. There will also be space for career-technical classes.
Classrooms are designed with a teacher planning space and restrooms between them, so each class will have access to their own restrooms.
There are also single story structures for administration and the media center, and for the cafeteria and music room. There is an additional building for industrial and agriculture programs, and there are now two gymnasiums — one for the middle school and a smaller gym for elementary students. They both have sports fields as well.
Once final funding for the new elementary and middle school is received, the district intends to get in line for money to build a new junior-senior high school. The goal is to “right size” the school district with the number of campuses reflecting student population in order to make the most of education funding.
