BonDeCroft Expansion Will Not Be Completed Until Summer Break

The BonDeCroft Elementary School expansion project will not be completed this school year.

White County Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger told the School Board Thursday night that the original estimate had the project finishing around the county’s spring break but small delays have pushed the completion date into April. He said that trying to integrate the new building into the school during that time would interrupt the district’s focus on state testing at the end of the academic year.

“I think the completion date, I think is really pushed beyond spring break at this point,” Dronebarger said. “It’ll probably be a summer move. Not that we won’t be able to utilize it before the end of the year, but it in all likelihood as we approach testing at that point would probably be a poor time to try and move into the building.”

Dronebarger said workers were laying down and waterproofing roof insulation on the new building in anticipation for poor weather on Friday. He said the project has moved onto adding exterior brickwork and pouring concrete for the stairs to the upper level.

“You can actually go upstairs, downstairs,” Dronebarger said. “All the walls are formed inside, so you can see the dimensions of the rooms.”

Dronebarger said he believes electric power has been transferred into the new building allowing the builders to work more efficiently. Dronebarger said the project made a lot of progress while students were out of the way during winter break.

“That included knocking the holes through the walls and getting the electric established, so big steps were taken,” Dronebarger said.