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The first shipment of concrete pre-fabricated walls arrived this week for a classroom addition that is under construction at Perkett Elementary in Minot. At the construction site on Wednesday afternoon, a crane could be seen about to lift the walls into an upright position.
It is the first tangible sign of an addition that will ease overcrowding at the elementary school. The Perkett addition is scheduled to be completed by the mid-summer of 2016, said Minot Public Schools superintendent Mark Vollmer.
The Perkett addition is one of several construction projects going on in the Minot school district that is being funded through a $39.5 million school bond issue approved by voters in April 2014.
A classroom addition at Edison Elementary is nearing completion and will be ready for the start of school in August.
“We anticipate that Edison will be done by the 20th of July,” said Vollmer. “The portable classroom that was at Edison has already been moved off-site and has been placed at Jim Hill (Middle School) to help (alleviate) overcrowding at that building.”
A new elementary school in southeast Minot is also on schedule and will be completed by the summer of 2016. Vollmer said construction crews are putting in the school’s foundation and the first pre-fabricated walls for the new elementary will arrive in early August.
Work on the Perkett addition and the new elementary will continue throughout the winter. Vollmer said they are scheduled to be enclosed by the time that frost hits.
Work on safety and security additions at Jim Hill, Minot High School-Central Campus and all three schools at Minot Air Force Base is also being done this summer. The work includes remodeling of the school entrances and installation of a buzzer system that will connect with the school office. The lunchroom at Jim Hill is also being expanded to ease overcrowding.
The building projects are intended to address ongoing growth in student numbers in the district.
Vollmer said there were about 7,600 students enrolled in grades K-12 when classes ended earlier this month, about 180 more students than were enrolled at the close of school in 2014.
Vollmer said it is hard to predict how many students will be enrolled when classes start in August. He urged parents new to the area to make an appointment to enroll their children in school at the school district office, located at 215-2nd St. SE. Enrollment doesn’t have to wait until right before school starts, he said. Barb Hansen is the school district enrollment specialist. Call 857-4400 for more information.