The Gasconade County R-2 School Board of Education has sent out a request for proposals (RFP) to complete a new parking lot behind the Administration Building on Highway 28 and hopes that the contractors at the new Casey General Store location will participate.

“Casey’s has been very generous in providing the dirt and the leveling of the land behind us for more parking as most of the parking is now gone with the addition of the easement of our driveway,” said Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy. “That has saved us a lot of money.”

When the district is ready to begin building the parking lot, which will be sometime after the first of the new year, they will have to go by city code.

“Looking at the city ordinances we either have to asphalt the parking lot or concrete it,” Hardy told the board during the Nov. 14 meeting. “We will need to put an RFP out too, for either concrete or asphalt.”

When Casey’s General Store officials purchased the property it also included the basketball court adjacent to the site which once included Administration Field.

“City aldermen reached out and said they really like how the kids use our basketball courts,” Hardy said. “We will also need flood lighting back there. There is room when we reconfigure the parking to add the basketball court back there.”

Hardy told the board they didn’t need to make any decisions about adding the basketball court to the project, but they did need to make some decisions regarding the RFP.

“One of the thoughts that we have is that Casey’s may want to bid on that project because the concrete will already be here,” she said. “If we have the RFP process we may begin collecting those so when the time is right we may be able to save costs for the district.”

Director Russ Farrell joked that they could call it Casey’s Court and ask if the business wants to sponsor the space. 

“We can do it all in one or break it up,” Hardy said. “There will be some green space. The back half of Casey’s parking lot will also have grass.”

Hardy added that after the parking lot there will not be a lot of space left but it could fit a basketball court if they chose.

Director Jean Baker asked if the city would donate dusk-till-dawn lights. Hardy said that the school district took care of the light over the old court.

“So we will start advertising the RFP for consideration,” Hardy said.

Board President Glenn Ely agreed and the board voted 7-0 to move forward.

Hardy said on Monday that Maintenance Director Gary Pohlmann has met with the city’s engineer about the project. They will acquire a permit from the city when they are ready to begin the project, which will be sometime after the new year.

“Our board meeting is not until the middle of December,” Hardy said. “It will be after that point when the board approves bids.”

However, the parking lot may progress without the basketball court — at least initially.

“We will have to wait until Casey’s gets its drainage issues taken care of,” Hardy said. “We don’t want to have to rip something out.” 

In new business, the Gerald Elementary School (GES) fencing project was completed Monday morning by Dry Fork Steel and Supply, LLC, located in Bland.

“They put up a new fence at GES for student safety,” Hardy said. “Work was completed today. It started last week Monday or Tuesday.”

According to Hardy during the August meeting, a fence to keep visitors out of the playground and children safely within the confines was needed. The board had hoped to save the project for the 2023 No-Tax-Increase Bond Issue, but circumstances pushed the project forward.

“The fence extends from the back behind the offices at GES where parent drop-off is,” Hardy said. “There was no fence to separate the playground from the parking lot so we have added a fence there with a gate. It can be opened during deliveries. We have it where no one can enter the playground during recess and wander off the playground.”

GES students will also have new playground equipment installed soon.

“The new playground equipment was bought by the Parent-Teacher Organization and GES — it was a joint purchase,” Hardy said. “We are waiting for the arrival.”

Previous playground equipment no longer met safety standards.

“The posts on the equipment were square and needed to be round and some of the welds were coming undone. We needed to do something for the safety of our kids,” Hardy said.

Hardy said the equipment cost $40,061.20 to replace, of which $22,230.60 was donated by the Parent-Teacher Organization.

“We will add additional equipment with the bond issue,” Hardy said.