During a special called meeting Wednesday, Texarkana, Ark., School District's Board of Education approved the final contract to purchase land for the new middle school.
The 31.743-acre tract, owned by Wommack 6 Corp., is north of Interstate 30, between Jefferson Avenue and Crossroads Parkway. The board approved a final price of $955,816.50, which includes $9,020 in mitigation credits to the Little Bodcau Mitigation Bank, as directed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and closing costs to Southwest Title.
"The board's approval to move forward with the purchase of the land takes the district another step towards building our new middle school," Superintendent Dr. Becky Kesler said. "The continued support of our board, staff, students, parents and the community is wonderful and we want to do everything we can to provide quality facilities and educational experiences that promote pride in our district. Because the bottom line is, everything we do is for our students. We have had a great start this school year and the excitement is in the air about the great things happening in the Texarkana Ark., School District. Now we will start planning for our ground-breaking event."
That date has not yet been set, according to Genia Bullock, TASD director of Public Relations.
In May, the board entered into a contract with Wommack 6 for the land purchase, with a 120-day due diligence period. During that time, the Corps conducted cultural and environmental studies on the property.
The corps will issue the construction permit following the closing, which is scheduled for Friday.
The land will be purchased through the district's general fund and construction will be funded through a bond restructure voters approved in October 2017. The move generated $20 million for the new school.
This fall, TASD restructured grade alignment at several schools and made College Hill Middle School the Sixth Grade Center and required fourth-grade students to remain at the elementary campuses for fifth grade instead of moving up to middle school.
The science, technology, engineering and math thread at the elementary campuses is also being continued to the middle and high school levels through a $14.8 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant the district received in November 2017. The five-year grant was one of 32 the U.S. Department of Education gave to schools across the country. Called the Montage Project, the program also includes hands-on workforce training for high school students through a district partnership with area industries.