Schools
Wentzville School Board Approves High School Design Authorization, District Named AP Achievement District
The board agrees to begin designing site plans for the new high school, and Wentzville School District receives AP Achievement District award.
After much debate, the Wentzville R-IV School Board approved a motion to begin creating a design plan for the new high school Thursday night.
Hoener Associates, Inc. Architects will assist the board with the high school’s design plan as it has done for other Wentzville schools throughout the years. However, not all members of the board agreed that Hoener Associates should be the architects of the project.
At least two board members argued the district should be looking for the lowest price available for the project and consider other architect's bids.
With the school’s current deficit, maybe it is time to look for a more competitive price, Courtney Tieman said.
“I just think, in order to get the best price and cost for things, it needs to be competitively bid,” Tieman said. “And if we don’t ever do that, then there’s not the competition to bring prices down.”
Other members of the board believed hiring a different architect for the high school could jeopardize the quality of the project.
Board President Terry Ratcliff said hiring Hoener Associates is a wise choice because of the quality, timely service the firm has provided in the past.
“We’ve done everything on time, they’ve just given us amazing service,” Ratcliff said. “The risks that we would take with the time and going with another company, in my opinion, are worth any possible savings. We don’t know we’d have savings.”
Ratcliff was referring to the time it would take to search for and hire a new firm.
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The board also recognized the as an Advanced Placement Achievement District.
The district is one of 388 school districts nationwide to be honored for accomplishments in its advanced placement program. The award is given to districts with high student enrollment in AP courses and a large number of students who receive college credit for those courses.
Superintendent Dr. Terry Adams said the award is a huge honor considering the Wentzville School District did not offer advanced placement classes five years ago.
“I believe the first year we may have had three, and then we had about nine, and as of this year, we are going to have 17 in each high school,” Adams said. “We’re very proud of it. The kids are benefitting from it, and it’s just a really good thing for our school district.”
All board members were present at Thursday’s meeting.