The newly named Worthsville Elementary School will cost millions of dollars more and take months longer to complete than originally planned.
The school board approved a change on Tuesday that will increase the budget of the Clark-Pleasant elementary school construction project from the original estimate of $24.1 million to $26.8 million. Indianapolis-based construction company The Skillman Corp., construction manager for the project, made that first estimate in January of 2018, when Clark-Pleasant schools didn’t know what the design of the school would look like. When the district finalized that design to resemble Walnut Grove Elementary School in March, that estimate rose to $27.3 million, Business Director Jay Staley said.
The project was bid in 14 categories, and multiple companies were competing for the work in 13 of those categories, which let the school district save about $473,000 from that final projected figure. Skillman Corporation put together that original timeline of 17 months to complete the project in those initial phases when it didn’t know the design, with a goal of completion by January of 2021. Now the district estimates the finishing touches will be added in April of 2021, Staley said.
Construction on the school started in July. Clark-Pleasant schools will pay Skillman an additional $165,000 for the three months it will manage construction beyond what it originally expected, he said.
Although Skillman is overseeing the project and making sure construction goes according to plan, the company will not do any of the construction itself. So far, construction crews are in the process of pouring the footings for the building, Staley said.
Clark-Pleasant schools also set up a live YouTube video stream of the construction site on its “Clark-Pleasant Livestream” channel so people can follow along.
Clark-Pleasant schools will stay in debt for several years, paying of the project on top of current debt it is still paying off. The amount of time the district takes to pay off bonds for Worthsville Elementary School will depend on its year-to-year budget, and by staying within its budget, the district won’t have to ask taxpayers for a referendum, spokesperson John Venter said in June.
The 110,000 square-foot school will include 45 classrooms, a cafeteria and kitchen, a gymnasium, a large group instruction room and space for offices and conference rooms for staff. The school will hold as many as 800 students and $600,000 worth of solar panels will be installed if the project doesn’t end up costing more than $26.8 million, Venter said.
Worthsville Elementary School will be located just north of Clark-Pleasant Middle School, west of Interstate 65 and the Worthsville Road interchange in Greenwood. It will be the sixth elementary school in the district, which had 6,753 students when it counted them on Friday. Clark-Pleasant schools also has a middle school, high school and preschool, and has added more than 1,000 students since Pleasant Crossing, its most recently opened school, welcomed students for the first time in 2007. The district expects to grow its enrollment at a pace of about 100 students per year, the district estimates.
Harvest Bible Chapel is funding the construction of two parking lots, one near the elementary school and one near the church that both churchgoers and school visitors will be able to use when they have heavily-attended events. In exchange for Harvest Bible Chapel putting money towards the construction of the parking lots, drainage and utility work, Clark-Pleasant schools gave Harvest Bible Chapel nearly 16 acres of land to build a church on.
Clark-Pleasant schools will be involved in the construction and management of a city-funded access road between the elementary school and a future sports complex northwest of the Worthsville Road and Interstate 65 intersection. The access road will cost the city between $500,000 and $600,000 and will be completed about the same time the school opens, Staley said in June.
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Clark-Pleasant schools approved construction bids in all 14 construction categories
Bid category;Contractor;Contract amount
General Trades;JC Ripberger;$7,920,000
Masonry;Complete Masonry;$2,892,400
Metals;Structural Steel Services;$1,885,000
Metal studs, drywall, ceilings; Circle B Construction;$2,495,000
Roofing;Horning Roofing;$696,770
Doors and windows;Keusch Glass;$925,000
Floor covering;The Blakley Corp.;$959,890
Painting and wallcovering;Anthony Anderson;$199,000
Kitchen equipment;Central Restaurant Products;$587,574
Casework;Lee Company;$436,570
Fire protection;Integrity Fire Protection;$236,225
Plumbing & HVAC;Quality Plumbing and Heating;$3,599,000
Electrical and communications;James Babcock;$3,257,656
Mechanical sheetmetal;Campbell Ventilation;$714,500
Total;$26,804,585
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Naming the new school
The Clark-Pleasant school board chose Worthsville Elementary School as the name of the new school in a 5-0 vote.
The other choices on the short list, Sunnyside Elementary School and Crossroads Elementary School, were not voted on.
The district conducted an open poll this summer for public input on the name but there were no clear front-runners, Superintendent Patrick Spray said.
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