Texarkana, Ark. School District's Board of Directors held a special meeting Monday to get a construction update on the new middle school project and to pass a disclosure resolution.
The disclosure resolution is for full disclosure that Vickie Al-Dubais plays the piano for Arkansas High School drama productions and her daughter, Laila Al-Dubais, was hired as the drama teacher for the 2018-19 school year.
The board also heard from Randy Wolf with Lewis Architects for the middle school, which will be built on a 31.743 tract of land north of Interstate 30 between Jefferson Ave. and Crossroads Parkway. Funds for the new school come from a $20 million bond restructure voters approved in October 2017.
It is scheduled to open in January 2021.
The board discussed parking spaces, curbs and bus routes during the meeting. Wolf said the plans had been approved by the state health department and the Arkansas Division of Building Authority and that they were waiting for approval from the Arkansas Department of Education.
Superintendent Dr. Becky Kesler said many of the ideas incorporated into the design were the direct result of teacher input.
"The staff has been very involved with the planning of this building," she said. "In the beginning, Steve Elliott sat down with the teachers and he really tried to fit in all their ideas. A lot of these are their ideas for the perfect school."
Those include restrooms and a staff workroom on each hallway, additional security so each hallway can be locked down and locating the sixth-grade academy on one wing.
"All the fine arts is in one area and there are administrators officers on each hallway and they won't be just in the front of the building like in a lot of the older schools," Kesler added. "They'll be spread throughout the building."
A groundbreaking will be held soon, she said, but the date has not been set.
The next regular meeting will be held at 6 p.m. today at the Administration Building, 3435 Jefferson Ave., Texarkana, Ark.