Board to bid $2.5 million middle school project

The LaRue County School Board voted Monday to renovate the heating and cooling system at LaRue County Middle School. The project is estimated at $2.5 million.

Superintendent Sam Sanders said the school district is in good financial standing and is able to go ahead with the project.

He said the board was offered a $1 million academy bond and must make a sale on the bond before Dec. 31 or it will be lost.

He said he plans to take bids on the project by Nov. 11 and award the bid on Nov. 18. The Kentucky Department of Education would review the bid from that time until Dec. 2, with the bond sale occurring on Dec. 4.

He foresees the contractor beginning work during the Christmas break with most of the work being completed after 3 p.m.

LCMS has several extra classrooms in the east wing, which makes the renovation more doable, Sanders said, with work being done four classrooms at a time.

The project includes renovating the windows of both wings of LCMS, the alternative school and the gymnasium.

Sanders said the renovation would provide a "much better learning environment for the students."

LCMS principal Corey Keith said he "commends the maintenance staff" for their hard work, but he looks forward to the possibility of improvements.

Board member Anita Cruse noted that "even though the cost is high" the savings of energy costs over time would be "significant."

After the discussion the board unanimously approved the recommendation.

Tax rate lowered

The board also unanimously approved the 2008-09 tax rate for the district.

Sanders said LaRue County has one of the lowest tax rates in the fifth district.

The counties in the fifth district have the following real estate tax rates, starting with the lowest: Adair County, 40.8; Campbellsville Independent, 41.7; Taylor County, 41.8; Green County, 44.4; LaRue County 45.6; Hart County, 46.6; Marion County, 48; Meade County 49.8; Hardin County, 50.1; Washington County, 50.8; Elizabethtown Independent, 54.7; Nelson County, 56.4; Caverna Independent, 60.3; and Bardstown Independent, 60.9.

Sanders said he is "happy to be able to lower the real estate tax for the second year in a row," since this tax is the one that impacts the most people.

Other rates for LaRue County will be: tangibles, 46.3; motor vehicle, 55.2; and utility, 3 percent.

Sanders said the motor vehicle and utility rates have gone unchanged for a number of years.