by MATT HUGHES
J-E News Editor
Superintendent Pete Galloway told the Webster County School Board on Monday that Princeton Lumber Company had requested a two week extension on their deadline. That will shorten an already tight schedule the district is on to get Webster County Middle School open in time for the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
Rain and snow has slowed much of the outside work to the middle school area, and construction crews are very limited on being able to begin work on the cafeteria in the Webster County Annex until after the last day of class. The cafeteria already serves all students from Dixon Elementary and Webster County High School. Starting in the fall it will also serve students from the Webster County Middle School.
Delays have hindered the middle school project since the beginning. When the school board voted to proceed with the project back in 2012, it was with the intention of having the school opened for an August 2013 start.
School Board Attorney Brandi Rogers will be serving the board for an additional year. Board members voted on Monday to exercise their option to extend Roger’s contract for an additional year. She has been the board attorney since last spring, when she replaced long time board attorney Amy Zachary.
In addition to her duties as the district’s lawyer, she also represents the Crittenden County school board and is currently in a multi-county race to become Family Court Judge.
According to Rogers, if she were to win that election, she would no longer be able to serve as board attorney. She would need out of her contract by January 1, 2015 in order to take over as judge.
“I will say, I appreciate the job Brandi has done,” said chairman Jeff Pettit. “She has helped us work through several situations.”
“I enjoy working with you all,” Rogers told the board. “This is a fantastic district.”
Galloway passed along a few congratulations on Monday night. First he told the board that WCHS students Hannah Pritchett and Matthew Sharber had been selected to the 2014 Governor’s Scholar program, a 5-week program during the summer provides academic and personal growth opportunities to students through the balance of a strong liberal arts program with a full co-curricular and residential life experience.
Galloway also congratulated district Food Service Director Shane Bosaw and the entire food services department in Dixon.
“They had a team from Frankfort in a few weeks ago to do some observation,” he said. “They were very complimentary and just could not say enough about what they saw when they were here.”
Board members voted unanimously to adopt the proposed schedule changes that will allow Webster County students to finish the school year on May 30, 2014,