PERU — Campus-wide infrastructure updates are planned for next year at Peru Community Schools.
The Peru School Board moved forward Monday night with a $1.5 million general obligation, which will finance the improvements.
Those improvements include a partial roof replacement, a new water heater and upgrades to the kitchen freezer and refrigerant systems at Elmwood Primary Learning Center; a new chiller system and updated restrooms at Blair Pointe Upper Elementary School and door replacements and upgrades related to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Monday’s meeting was held in the library at Blair Pointe. There were a couple remarks about it being stuffy and warm.
The scope of work will depend on the price of those fixes and which ones school administration prioritizes.
Superintendent Trent McCormick said the list came after a meeting earlier this month with other school officials that identified “sore spots.”
“Our various buildings across our campus, we are proud of them, but they are aging,” he said. “In general, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done across our campus on facilities and grounds.”
McCormick was named superintendent last month. He is the husband of Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
The project is not expected to raise taxes.
A general obligation, or GO, bond is a financing mechanism schools use to afford projects. They are more streamlined than lease bonds, which is how schools finance large projects, such as Eastern’s fieldhouse and the recent track resurfacing and football stadium press box upgrades at Peru Junior/Senior High School.
Schools are limited on how much in general obligation bond debt they can take on. That threshold is the either 1% of gross assessed value within a school district or the max levy growth quotient, a figure determined by the Department of Local Government Finance, which ever one is lower.
Work is expected begin sometime next spring or summer and finish by the end of the 2025.
Source Agencies
