Seneca delays start of school

The start date for classes in the for Seneca R-7 School District has rolled back a week.  

School was slated to start on Aug. 19, and although construction is wrapping up, the school district still has to move into the new buildings and the call was made Friday to postpone the start date one week to Aug. 26.

The change will primarily affect the start date, the open houses for the district, a couple of in-service training days, and the last day of school, which will now be May 25. The ribbon cutting for the two new schools has also been moved.

“The decision wasn’t based on the construction,” said Rick Cook, Seneca superintendent. “They felt like they would be done. It was really, mainly our maintenance crew that has to follow the contractors in the cleaning process.”

To relieve the pressure on a staff that has to clean, wax and move furniture into two new buildings, the district pushed the start date for classes back.

Much of the construction is complete, but maintenance crews are following the contractors.

They started waxing floors two weeks ago, now they have to move the furniture back in. Sixth grade furniture is coming from the middle school and desks are waiting in the elementary gymnasium where they are being moved to the new intermediate school —classroom by classroom.

At the intermediate school, gravel has gone down in the parking lot and asphalt will follow today. Tile is down on the portion of the intermediate school that will be used for the cafeteria – the 100-by-67-foot area will be complete by Friday. Most of the painting in the 13,700-square-foot gymnasium is done. Terrazzo floors must still be installed in bathrooms and kitchen in both the intermediate and high school. Putting them in is a two-week process and contractors arrive next week.

Playing surfaces in both gymnasiums will be wooden, but the floor in the high school gymnasium will not be laid until after school starts. However, the library area, new cafeteria, kitchen and bathrooms at the high school will be ready. Paint in the high school gymnasium is 90 to 95 percent complete, Cook said.

Soundboards must be installed in both new gymnasiums.

The new intermediate school sits on the former track.

Football players and band members used to practice there, but Cook is hoping a land grant from the National Parks Service will offer the district a new place to play. The land they have in mind is just across the creek, south of the walking trail in city park. If the land grant is successful then the land would be deeded to the school district and also available for city use.

Traffic flow has also changed at the elementary and intermediate school area. The district is asking elementary school parents to arrive from Roark to St. Anne Street and they will be coming through the front of the old bus lane traveling south to exit on Seneca Street. At the intermediate school, parents can enter from on St. Patrick, turn through the pickup loop and exit onto Seneca Street. The new bus lane will be between the two schools, minimizing the parking that was there before. Parents are asked to park behind the football bleachers on St. Louise and walk over to the school. Directional maps will be included in fall welcome information.

The schedule change drops a few things back a week, including a pair of teacher in-service training dates. The Aug. 16 training will be Aug. 23 and the Aug. 17 training will be held Aug. 24. Holidays will stay the same, but open houses for the schools have changed to coincide with ribbon cutting ceremonies, which were also changed. Open houses and ribbon cuttings will be held at the intermediate school at 6 p.m. and at the high school at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 23.  Open houses will be held at the elementary at 6 p.m. and the junior high at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 24.

“The community is going to be very, very pleased with the product that Dalton-Killinger has been able to provide to the community,” Cook said. “The facilities are really just second to none. In my opinion the elementary school has got to be one of the nicest in the state. It’s really state-of-the-art. Every classroom has a SMART Board, the facilities there are tremendous and the new high school additions that we’ve added are first class also.

“I believe that people are going to be very, very pleased with how their money was spent and what they got for their money.”