Johnston School Board Expected to Proceed With New High School Plan

Another step to prepare the  for continued enrollment gains could be decided tonight.

The Johnston school board is expected to approve a measure to proceed with the plan to construct a new tenth- to 12th-grade high school and relocate eighth- and ninth-grade students to the current high school.

At a , board members indicated they would move forward with the plan.

The plan would include:

• A 325,000-square-foot tenth- to 12th-grade high school to hold 1,800 students. The building would come with an estimated $72 to $75 million price tag, without consideration of site acquisition or off-site development expenses.

• Renovations to the current middle school to house students from Wallace Elementary and system updates to the current high school. The renovations would cost an estimated $18 to $21.5 million.

Decisions on repurposing other district buildings, including the existing eighth- and ninth-grade middle school will be discussed at a later work session, which could be scheduled at tonight's meeting.

Other items on the agenda include:

• Approval to conduct a traffic study of the area being discussed for the new high school west of Northwest 100th Street and north of Northwest 62nd Avenue.

• Approval of out-of-state travel for the Johnston Middle School eighth-grade jazz band. The band would like permission to travel to the Kansas Jazz Festival on March 2 and 3.

The board meets at 6 p.m. in the Administrative Resource Center.