The upcoming elementary school in the Petal School District – which will provide additional space for the district’s more than 4,400 students – got its next step when officials from the district’s board of trustees recently approved the advertisements for bids for that facility.
That measure took place at the December 12 board meeting, where district superintendent Matt Dillon said the process will start sometime this week, beginning with notification in The Pine Belt News.
“We’ll advertise for bid, and then we have a process you have to go through,” he said. “Especially with the holidays, we probably won’t find out (the result) until late January on the bid.
“We’re still moving forward with the process, and we’ll see where the bids fall once we get them in. The cost (of the project) is kind of all over the place right now, so hopefully we’ll have a lot of companies competing for this project because it’ll be a great local project.”
The new elementary school, along with a new multi-purpose facility, will be built on school-owned property on Herrington Road, adjacent to Petal Primary School. The school will house third and fourth grades and will be constructed to accommodate future growth.
The current elementary school will become part of the Petal High School campus, providing space for the high school, which is home to the largest number of students in the district.
In anticipation of that construction, district officials recently oversaw the widening of Herrington Road to facilitate traffic flow from Petal High School, Petal Primary School, Petal Elementary School and the proposed new school.
The multi-purpose facility will be constructed on the Petal High School campus and will feature a full-size gymnasium, complete with stadium seating and a stage for arts and athletics. The building also will offer opportunities for the district to host various camps and competitions, such as dance and cheer competitions, as well as JROT exhibitions and indoor percussion events.
Back in May, residents in the Petal School District voted to approve a bond referendum that includes a 4.5 mill increase on property taxes to support the construction of the school and multi-purpose center. Dillon said the new school is necessary because the district has experienced maximum capacity across its five schools as a result of a 7-percent increase in student population over the past five years.
“What’s happening is, our enrollment numbers are just increasing over time,” Dillon said in April. “It used to be slow and steady growth when I first moved here and got the position in 2014, but it has over the last six years, it has just exploded with growth.
“In 2014, we were sitting right at 4,000 students, but fast forward to this school year, we grew all the way to 4,400 students at one point. We have since dipped, as every day, people move in and move out during the school year. But in the last six years, we have grown 330 students.”
One mill is equal to one-tenth of a cent. To calculate property tax, divide the millage by 1,000 and multiply it by the property’s assessed taxable value.
For example, if a city were to institute a .64 millage increase, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $6.40 per year in property taxes.
With the approval of the bond, property owners who are under 65 years of age with a home valued at $100,000 will pay an additional $45 per year on property taxes. An individual over 65 years of age with the same home value will pay an extra $11.25 annually.
“We’ve come to this perfect storm, where we’ve exhausted all the things that we can do, and we need some help in order to get over the hump to get some extra building space so our kids and staff can have an appropriate space,” Dillon said. “Also, as we talk about teacher shortage and recruiting the best of the best and keeping them here, if you don’t provide the appropriate facilities for our staff, it’s hard to keep them here.
“That’s some of the challenges that we’re experiencing right now, specifically in academics and our extracurricular activities. So this is the whole reason why there is a ‘need’ and not a ‘want’ for this.”
