Woodlawn To Pursue Building Projects

WOODLAWN - The Woodlawn School Board took its first official step toward possibly building a new "career center" and expanding the school cafeteria when the board approved resolutions Monday seeking state partnership funding for both projects. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock said he wanted to put the resolutions on the board's October agenda so the district could submit both before the state's "early" deadline of Nov. 1. Hancock said the early resolutions will be reviewed by the state, and the district will have an opportunity to change or modify the resolution before the official deadline for consideration takes place on March 1, 2024. Woodlawn is seeking partnership funding for both projects. Under the partnership funding, the state pays a portion of the construction costs for any approved academics-related school facility project based. The percentage the state pays is based on that school district's "wealth index," which measures a variety of factors related to the district's ability to raise money on its own. For Woodlawn, the state would pay for about 70 percent of the cost. Hancock explained that the resolutions approved Monday night are part of what will be a two-step process. The first step is getting the projects approved for the partnership funding, and the second step is getting approved for the funding. The state legislature sets aside a certain amount of money for the the partnership program each year, and the money is then distributed on a competitive basis among the school districts. Based on the sources he as spoken with at the regional and state level, Hancock said feels "confident" the district's two projects will be accepted into the partnership program. There were separate resolutions approved by the board for each of the two projects, Hancock said. The new career center would replace the existing family and consumer science (FACS) building located in what is the oldest structure on...