Construction Underway At Becker Public Schools

BECKER (WJON News) - Construction is underway on several improvement projects at Becker Public Schools.

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New Transportation Center

The new transportation center is under construction east of town. ICS Project Manager Kyle Walters says the building materials have arrived, and the underground site work should be completed later this week. Construction crews hope to have the shell up before winter and to have the interior complete this spring.

Once the transportation center is complete and the busses are moved, the existing transportation center will be remodeled into a new Early Childhood Education Center.  Superintendent Jeremy Schmidt says the demand for the program is high, and this will allow for more students.

70 to 80% of our students begin in school readiness here in Becker schools. I know we have some families who want to get in (but) aren't able to because of some of the space issues. And so we'll hopefully be able to improve on that as well.

Additions at Becker Middle School

Groundwork has started at the Becker Middle School for an over 10,000-square-foot addition to the building. Officials say the front office will be remodeled, and a secure entry system will be installed. In addition, new classroom space will be added to the back of the building. Walters says students should be able to enjoy the new space in the fall of 2023.

We will be starting this fall on the back classroom edition, putting footings and foundations in. We can do that without affecting the day-to-day operations. And then next spring, we'll look at potentially starting the office addition, with that finishing up in the fall of 2023.

The High School

Finally, a few changes at the high school will include an upgrade to the existing security doors as well as remodels to the wood shop, the metals shop, and the robotics lab. Schmidt says this phase of the project will provide better opportunities for all students.

When this is all said and done, in a couple of years, every single building will have a safe and secure entrance.  We’ll have more space in our cafeteria and Commons areas where we can have better flow and improve time and in our lunch room, and we've got the CTE in the high school. Those areas will be expanded and improved for our students. Another one that's really exciting is our early education center that's going to be built where the current transportation building is.

The projects are the beginning of a multi-phase construction project made possible when district voters approved a referendum last November.