DECATUR — School board members voted to update the Decatur School District’s master facilities plan to include a proposed safe room and gymnasium at the Northside Elementary School.

The resolution was passed at a special meeting between Friday’s basketball games in order to meet a Feb. 2 deadline.

The master facilities plan is updated every year and approved by the school board every other year, superintendent Larry Ben explained to board members. It is reviewed by the Arkansas Department of Education’s Facilities Department.

The safe room was the only change made to the existing plan. It will also be used for physical education and activities.

The facilities plan listed the cost of the project as $1 million, but the district is in the process of applying for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to defray the costs. The estimated completion date is 2014.

Ben told board members that the master facilities plan does not commit the school board to any building projects, but that it is necessary to put projects in the plan if there is a chance the district will want to move forward with them in the future.

The existing plan, which was last updated in 2007, lists new building projects, as well as planned improvements toexisting facilities. It calls for a new high school, cattle barn, vocational-agricultural building, football press box and agymnasium to be designed in 2019 and completed by 2021. The plan also calls for the construction of a fine arts building, but the ADE Facilities Department said in its comments that the structure was too large for a district of Decatur’s size.

News, Pages 1 on 01/25/2012