FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon Middle School students are attending classes across the street because of delays to the completion of the middle school’s $10 million renovation, officials said.
Dr. Tim Long, Mt. Vernon Community School Corp. assistant superintendent, said some middle school students and teachers have been learning in spare classrooms at Mt. Vernon High School while the construction, which has been bedeviled by delays, finishes up.
“We need carpets, doors and kids,” Long said. “That’s where we are right now.”
Officials said some of the construction delays have been caused by having to send back supplies like windows because they weren’t to specification. The construction is currently held up because the humidity of the building has to be strictly controlled for the installation of doors, Long said.
Teachers have requested any move back to the middle school be delayed until fall break or Christmas break to limit disruptions on students’ learning, officials said.
Board member Chris Smedley said staff and teachers at the middle school have been very understanding of the construction issues and thanked them for their patience.
Long said he hoped to have more answers about what still needs to be done after a meeting later this week.
The project has been a long time coming for the Mt. Vernon school district.
The school corporation in 2016 revealed plans to move eighth-graders — who are already currently housed at the high school — back into the middle school to accommodate anticipated growth.
The district grew from 3,500 students in 2013-14 school year to 4,100 students last year, according to data from the Indiana Department of Education.
At Monday’s school board meeting, Smedley said the district saw a total of 160 new students enroll this year, which is 100 more than expected.
“It’s a good number, but it poses problems,” he said. “With our capital projects, we have to keep up with that growth down the road.”
Facility studies conducted by the district in recent years showed the high school, housing eighth- through 12th-graders, is cramped, and the additions at the middle school were the best option to alleviate some of the space crunch.
Project plans included adding nearly 30,000 square feet to the building, which was built in the 1970s, at a cost of $10 million.
Construction is now in its second phase. Last year, students were able to use a new, larger cafeteria that was built as part of the project.
Now, the school’s old cafeteria has been turned into a workspace. About 20 new classrooms are also being constructed.
District officials have said the renovations will wrap up in December.
