DCPS board aiming for fall to start new central office renovations

Daviess County Public Schools officials hope to begin work on the district’s new central office facility later this fall, with tentative plans to have the building ready for occupancy by the time students return to school for the 2024-25 school year.

Superintendent Matt Robbins gave school board members a general idea for the two-building complex, which is located at 4801 Frederica St. off Southtown Boulevard. The school district purchased the cite from US bank for $5 million last year.

Board members are expected to approve moving forward with the project Thursday evening, which will allow architects to begin designing the interior of the main building.

“This is the first action we’ve taken since the end of August when we purchased the building,” Robbins said Tuesday afternoon.

Creating new central office space has been one of the district’s priorities “for the last 15 to 20 years,” but always took a back seat to other district facility needs,” Robbins said.

Now, with the new Daviess County Middle School operating and renovations at Apollo High School nearing completion, the district is ready to move forward on the new central office, Robbins said.

The plan is to consolidate most central office staff in one location. Currently, the district’s central office workers are spread across five locations, including rented spaced at Owensboro Community & Technical Collage Southeast Campus, the learning center on Parrish Plaza Drive and at Heritage Park High School.

“That also presents a lot of challenges to use on a day to day basis” in terms of collaboration, Robbins said.

The district also has to occasionally rent space for meetings, Robbins said.

The main building’s first floor will hold all of the central office staff except for the IT department, while the upper floor will include the board room and training space, Robbins said.

A plan for the second building hasn’t been determined, but the building could have various uses.

“One thing I see as a clear and present need is career and technical” education space, Robbins said. The facility could also potentially host a child-care center, he said.

“There are a lot of options that could be considered, and the central location makes it an asset,” Robbins said.

The expected cost of the renovations is $10 million, which includes installing permanent walls in the main building, which previously had a cubicle layout.

“We are going to do our best to keep it at $10 million,” Robbins said.

The district could recoup about $2 million of the purchase cost by selling the current central office building, while much of the remaining purchase cost could be recovered through the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax credits to school districts for renovation projects that include energy upgrades.

“We are looking to recoup 80% of our costs” of the purchase, Robbins said.

Once the construction bid is awarded in November “within 30 days, a contractor will begin doing work,” Robbins said.