A groundbreaking ceremony was held last Friday for the Chillicothe R-2 school district new elementary school building.
Superintendent Doctor Roger Barnes and other school officials were joined by Mayor Chuck Haney and City Administrator Ike Holland for the ceremony. The ceremony drew members of the Chillicothe Education Foundation, R-2 school board, and other special guests .
The groundbreaking featured some 15 students from the Pre-School, Kindergarten, and first-grade pupils, wearing plastic safety helmets and having shovels in hand, helped to turn dirt at the ceremony.
As Dr. Barnes addressed the group of some 35 students, teachers, and guests, heavy equipment was working in the background. The planned completion of the new school is May of 2018 which will accommodate Pre-School, Kindergarten and First Grade students.
The new school, the first educational facility to be built by the R-2 District since the new high school back in 2001, is a $13,718,818 project resulting from a successful school bond election this past April.
Chillicothe school patrons passed the bond issue with 63 percent support of the voters.
