Hedley school takes on $1 million building

Hedley Public Schools will soon be embarking on a $1 million new building following receipt of a grant recently.

Superintendent Bryan Hill said the Hedley Independent School District was notified of the grant during the first week of August by the Texas Education Agency.

The new facility will be located on the current school grounds, west of the Owl Gym and south of the main school building. After completion, the main entrance to the school will face west instead of south as it now does.

Plans call for four new classrooms and a combination multipurpose library/auditorium area. One of the new classrooms will be a lecture hall, and the multipurpose room will include computers, which will be wired to the Internet and accessible by community members.

The new facility will nearly double the space of the main school building, Hill said. The building will be of a metal frame construction with a metal roof and a masonry veneer exterior similar to the Bronco Gym in Clarendon, he said.

Architect Steven Butler of Canyon is currently drawing plans for the project. School officials hope to have the job completed sometime early in the 2002-2003 school year.

Hill said HISD originally applied for the TEA Instructional Facilities Allotment grant in 1999 and has been reapplying every year. The grant will cover approximately 83 percent of the cost of the new building. The remainder of the cost will be picked up by HISD taxpayers with 15-year bonds.

In November 1999, school district voters approved issuance of bonds to cover the district’s match by a margin of 96-30. The condition of the vote was that the bonds would not be issued until the school was awarded the grant.

“Community support has been overwhelming,” Hill said.

While other area rural schools are facing declining enrollments, the Hedley school has been on the upswing. Hill said 115 kids attended Hedley ten years ago. That number is now 189, growing steadily for the last seven years.

The school attracts approximately 50 transfer students from Clarendon, Memphis, and Wellington, Hill said.

More improvements may be in store for HISD’s physical plant. Hill said the district is currently working on a grant application that would renovate the roof of the main building and update the facility to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.