Band bleachers ordered for SSHS stadium
High school marching band members will have their own bleachers in the football stadium this fall.
Earlier this year, the school district received an anonymous donation to help cover the cost of the bleachers, assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins reported during Thursday’s school board meeting. The bleachers have been ordered and are scheduled to be installed before homecoming on Sept. 23 — the second home game of the season, he said.
According to specifications, the bleachers will hold 306 people. While Wiggins is doubtful that the bleachers will hold 306 band members with instruments, the new bleachers should accommodate the entire 190 member marching band with some room for growth, he said.
The band bleachers were included in the original stadium plans, but were eliminated to cut costs, he said. During the original stadium construction process, a cement pad for the band bleachers was poured on the south end of the facility. The bleachers are being provided by the same company that built the stadium bleachers — Southern Bleachers — and will be an exact match to the bleachers on the home and visitors side, Wiggins said.
The new bleachers cost $80,000, half of which was paid for by an anonymous donation, Wiggins said. The district is still accepting donations for the other half, he said.
In other business, school board members took another step towards adding prekindergarten classroom space to Northside Elementary School during Thursday’s meeting by approving a contract for architectural services with BiLD Architects of Fayetteville.
The district received a $500,000 grant administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission earlier this year to build two new prekindergarten
Commission earlier this year to build two new prekindergarten classrooms. The district plans to match those funds and build two additional classrooms, Wiggins said.
The district currently has seven prekindergarten classrooms, according to Michelle Paden, Northside Elementary School principal. The prekindergarten program has 140 students and is completely full, she said. The district was not able to accept any three-year-olds into the program this year and there is a waiting list for four-year-old students, Paden said.
Wiggins estimated the design process will take about three months. He said bidding on the project could take place as soon as December and construction could begin in January. Wiggins said he was hopeful the classrooms could be completed before the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, “but that’s really, really pushing it,” he said.
The district received a $500,000 grant to be administered.
School board members voted to change next month’s meeting from Thursday, Sept. 8 to Tuesday, Sept. 13 so the district will have time to prepare the budget after the Labor Day Holiday. The meeting will still be held at 5:30 p.m. in the school board room inside the Intermediate School.