Here is a recap of what was featured in the Wednesday, Dec. 13, e-edition of the Taylor Press. The e-edition is emailed to subscribers and available at www.taylorpress. net.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PROPOSE PLANS
Legacy Early College High School students had the opportunity to exhibit real life skills recently.
Four groups of ninth graders presented plans to T.H. Johnson Elementary staff that include additional equipment and other features to enhance learning opportunities and accessibility for all students, including those in wheelchairs.
Meanwhile, four groups of 11th grade students presented proposals to improve Main Street Elementary’s Gifted and Talented program, specifically how to implement 3-D printers into the curriculum.
Groups from both grade levels introduced their ideas Friday, Dec. 1 at their respective schools.
Student groups were required to include budgets, research costs, implementation timelines and how their project may continue.
When the project was beginning to be set up, LECHS went to the THJ and MSE administration and asked if there was anything needed to be done.
CITY INCREASES POLICE FORCE
The Taylor Police Department will soon welcome three new police officers to its roster, thanks to approval from Taylor City Council to add the extra staff to the budget.
Council voted to allow the department expansion at its Dec. 7 meeting. The three additional officers will take the role of patrol officers, bringing the total number of police officers from 18 positions to 21.
Taylor PD originally applied for a 2023 United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Hiring Program grant (COPS Grant) earlier in the year. The DOJ offers multiple grant programs annually and has invested over $14 billion in community policing since 1994, according to their media department.
The COPS office reported that they received 654 COPS hiring program grant applications during the open solicitation period from law enforcement agencies in nearly every state and U.S. territory. They made fiscal year 2023 awards to 394 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies totaling $216,809,571 to support the hiring of 1,730 full-time officers and deputies.
If awarded, Taylor’s grant would have helped the city to hire five patrol officers rather than three. On Nov. 2, the PD was notified that the grant was not awarded.
Taylor PD’s new hires will be in the police officer/police recruit category. Two will be patrol officer positions and one will be a foot/bike/ downtown/parks officer position. The new hires, when in place, will bring the department total to 21 police officers, two police commanders, five sergeants and four corporals.
DISTRICT APPROVES BIDS, ALTERNATES
Phase three of the Taylor Independent School District bond has a new price tag.
During the board meeting Monday, Dec. 11, trustees heard and approved the guaranteed maximum price for the construction projects within the final stage of the bond, which was passed May 2022.
After Stantec received drawings for bids over the past month, the base bid total for phase three of the bond is $19,802,715.
The biggest monetary item belongs to Taylor Middle School, which is getting a new administration area with security improvements and major maintenance across the school. TMS projects have a maximum price of $7,167,710.
T.H. Johnson Elementary School totals $4,264,268 for this stage of the bond. Planned improvements include a relocation of the administration area, fencing for play areas and new canopies.
Naomi Pasemann Elementary and Legacy Early College High School will also receive renovations on this stage of the bond.
In addition to approving phase three’s guaranteed maximum price, trustees unanimously approved adding eight alternates to the plans.
The additions total $2,489,404, meaning
the stage will cost $22,292,119 in total.
Four of the alternates involve district maintenance which includes adding an automatic gate operator to the bus parking area, access control improvements for deliveries and office mezzanine renovations. The last district maintenance alternate saved the district money by deleting the detention bond from the plan.
Both NPE’s and THJ’s alternates involve classroom flooring replacement and classroom paint, totaling $966,646 and $785,506 respectively.
TMS had the final alternate approved by trustees, $704,768 to renovate its fine arts room.
