New Agri Barn, Other Projects On Tap For Lincoln

LINCOLN —A five-year master facilities plan for Lincoln Consolidated School District includes about $400,000 worth of projects this year, including a new agriculture barn for the high school.

Lincoln School Board adopted the district’s five-year plan at its Jan. 15 meeting. Schools are required to submit master facility plans every two years to the Arkansas Department of Education. Superintendent Mary Ann Spears noted the plan is not set in stone. The district has the ability to move projects around as needed.

Money for the projects would come from the district’s building fund.

The board held a public hearing on the facilities plan and board member Kendra Moore reminded everyone the district’s goal is to

eventually have all activities for students in grades 8-12 on the high school campus. Currently, students have to be bused to the middle school for some activities and classes, such as P.E. classes.

“We will continue to chip away on that,” Moore said at the public hearing, which was mainly attended by teachers and administrators.

As part of the plan to build a new agriculture barn, the school district is interested in purchasing 4-5 acres of land adjacent to the agriculture wing, owned by a school employee, Randall Villines. The board approved a resolution to disclose that it would like to conduct business with Villines.

Spears said that because the land is owned by a school employee, the district will have to receive permission for the purchase from the state education commissioner. If the request is approved, she said she would move forward with having the land surveyed to determine exactly what the district would purchase.

She said she has a verbal agreement from Villines to purchase the land for $50,000. The new agriculture barn would be constructed on the new land and would be used as a place to keep show animals.

Other items on the 201718 facilities list include $100,000 worth of projects at the elementary gym, including new floor, paint, updating bathrooms, removing bleachers and improving air/heat units.

Work at the middle school includes replacing windows and carpet in the choir wing, electrical updates, roof repair and painting the exterior of the gym for about $125,000.

For 2018-19, the facilities master plan shows adding a courtyard area to the back of the high school and adding lighting around the track.

A new greenhouse for the agriculture department is slated for 2019-20, at an estimated cost of $150,000. The greenhouse would be built on the four acres.

The biggest and most expensive projects on the list are two new athletic facilities at the high school: a new baseball and softball complex and a multi-use facility, which could be used for P.E. classes and indoor practices for various sports. The baseball and softball complex is listed as a project for 2020-21 and the multiuse facility is on the facilities list for the following year, 2021-22.

In other business, the board approved a recommendation to request proposals from companies interested in providing food service for the district. Spears said the state requires a lot of paperwork for schools to outsource its food service. Everything will have to be approved first by the state’s Child Nutrition Services Department. Then requests for proposals will be sent to the four companies that are approved to do business in Arkansas.

Currently, Lincoln contracts with Aramark as a third-party food service provider. The School Board in May 2017, renewed its contract with Aramark for another year but was concerned student participation in meals had decreased. This year Lincoln is providing a free breakfast to all students to increase participation numbers. Aramark implemented other changes to try to serve more meals.