By Chris Post / Editor-In-Chief

Marshall Public Schools is weighing three options for Bueker Middle School, ranging from a $32 million renovation to a $100 million project combining a new school with renovation of the original building.

Financial advisers outlined the costs and potential tax increases at the Board of Education’s October meeting. The board did not select an option or approve a ballot measure.

A new middle school alone would cost an estimated $75 million. Superintendent Caleb Petet said it would be built on the district’s northeast campus, with separate access from Missouri Highway 240 to avoid adding traffic to the existing schools’ entrance.

The $100 million option would combine a new middle school with renovation of Bueker’s original footprint for performing arts and other programming. Petet said that approach would reduce the existing building’s size by about half.

The least expensive proposal would renovate the full Bueker building. However, its $32 million estimate does not include the cost of relocating roughly 600 students during construction.

In addition, students could need temporary classrooms at multiple locations for 18 months to two years.

Petet said transportation and temporary placement costs would likely require a larger tax increase than the initial financing estimate for renovation.

Each option would require voter approval of a levy increase. The financing scenarios also assume extending the district’s existing temporary levy through 2052.

For a residential property valued at $200,000, Raymond James advisers estimated the additional annual tax would be about $450 for the $100 million project, $298 for a new school alone and $17.25 for renovation.

Those figures are preliminary. The renovation estimate excludes student relocation costs, and financing costs could change before bonds are issued.

Petet said a facilities assessment identified decades of deferred maintenance at Bueker, a building more than 100 years old. He described continuing problems with its heating and cooling systems despite substantial spending on replacement equipment.

Replacing boilers and chillers has not resolved problems with aging pipes running through the building’s foundations, he said.

Petet also raised concerns about traffic around the school, limited parking and a lack of room for enrollment growth. Renovation would leave those limitations largely unresolved, he said.

He made clear that he favors moving students to a new building rather than renovating the existing school while finding temporary space for classes.

Petet and board members called for community forums and tours so residents can review the building’s condition and discuss the alternatives. Dates were not announced at the meeting.