New elementary school out to bid
Story by Jennifer Burden, jennifer@buffalobulletin.com
After months of discussion, the Johnson County School District is one step closer to having a new elementary school in Buffalo.
District superintendent Rod Kessler said bids should be out this week for the construction of Cloud Peak Elementary School, which will be located on eight acres southeast of Meadowlark Elementary School.
“We had everything turned into the state Monday afternoon,” Kessler said. “And the School Facilities Commission should release those bids this week. That’s good news.”
Kessler said bids will be accepted until 2 p.m. on Feb. 22. On that day, the bids will be opened at the Johnson County Administration Office, 601 W. Lott, Buffalo.
“The School Facilities Commission will actually approve the bids, but we collect them here,” Kessler said. “Then, the SFC has 45 days to make a decision on the bids. We have a little bit of collaboration, but they make the final decision. When we open the bids here, we will have a ballpark figure that day of where the bids come in, but we won’t know final numbers.”
Kessler said the latest date for bid selection would be April 7, but he said hopefully the selection will be made before that date so construction of the school can start.
At the Johnson County School District board meeting Monday, the trustees also discussed how they will proceed with Clear Creek Elementary School.
“We shared the data about what we saw the people wanting at the public meeting,” Kessler said. “We want to have a few more meetings to share this input and see if any other ideas are out there. Then, if possible, we want to have a workshop and invite the city to talk about the possibilities.”
If the school district chooses to not use the facility, located at 63 N. Burritt St., the city would have the first option to bid on the building.
“We’d like to have conversations to talk about the options with the city,” Kessler said. “It’s not a done deal, it’s just an invitation for a collaborative workshop. Some of the ideas for the building seemed to involve the city quite a bit.”
Popular options for the building include using it as a home for Northern Wyoming Community College District in Johnson County, housing the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Horns, a community building and a place for artists in the community. The Boys & Girls Club already has space in the building.
In other business, the school board renewed Kessler’s contract for another year.
“My contract is a two-year contract,” he said. “Without any action, I would be here for next year already. So they renewed my contract for another year, so I will be here for two more years.”
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