ST. LOUIS, Missouri (First Alert 4) – The Francis Howell School District will welcome more than 1,600 students and teachers to its brand new high school on Tuesday, more than three years after construction began on the project.

The new building offers a wide variety of classrooms and common spaces, including an auditorium that can serve as a storm shelter for the entire student body, something the old high school did not have. It also has a two-story gymnasium that can accommodate more than 2,000 people for basketball and volleyball games in addition to wrestling tournaments. There are common areas in various areas of the school where students or classes can work in groups outside of the traditional classroom.

The original Francis Howell North High School, which is currently being demolished, was built in 1982 and expanded several times. In recent years, problems with the heating and ventilation system, a leaky roof and outdated classrooms prompted the school district to explore replacing it with a new, state-of-the-art facility.

In 2020, the Francis Howell School District asked voters to approve Proposition S, a $244 million bond issue, the largest bond issue in the state of Missouri. Nearly 80 percent of voters approved the measure, which provided $86 million for a new Francis Howell North High School.

However, nearly a year and a half later, in November 2021, the Board of Education learned that the actual cost of the project would be closer to $165 million.

“We really understand that the community wants more communication and more transparency,” said Superintendent Ken Roumpos, who joined the district in fall 2022.

According to the Prop S Process Review Report, the original cost estimate in 2018 was based on a building size of 380,000 square feet. After Prop S was passed, the Prop S Design Team decided to increase the size of the building to 410,000 square feet. The decision and overall impact on project costs were not presented to the school board, administration, or taxpayers until November 2021.

“We recognize that the original numbers that were disclosed as part of the cost of this building were not accurate, nor did they account for the final square footage of the building that was ultimately constructed,” Roumpos said. “If those numbers, the 2018 cost, had been reconciled with the total square footage of the building, a more accurate number would have been provided to the public to begin with.”

Roumpos said supply chain and material costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic further increased the project’s costs.

By expanding the scope of the project, the district was able to make room for things like an e-sports room, culinary arts program, wrestling room, robotics lab, new theater and music wing, additional gymnasium, concession and ticket booth, and four lactation rooms. Many of the rooms can accommodate electives, providing an outlet and opportunity for students interested in pursuing careers outside of a traditional university.

Most of the other projects originally included in Prop S have been completed, according to Roumpos. They include a comprehensive improvement to the district’s security by building a security vestibule outside every kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school building throughout the district. Some of the money was transferred to the district’s capital improvement fund, although Roumpos did not provide a specific amount.

Construction on Francis Howell North High School was scheduled to be completed in May 2024, three years after it began. Roumpos said after a lack of communication and transparency during the previous administration, he implemented new processes to involve the community in the decision-making process.

“Now we’re presenting schematic designs to the board early on, where the board can get input and feedback before construction documents are prepared, bids are submitted and work is done,” he said. “This really gives the board and the community the opportunity to say no, these estimates are too high or we need to change the scope of work.”

The district is confident that it can welcome students back to the classroom on Tuesday and that it can be a celebratory moment as it continues to work to regain the trust of many stakeholders.

“Hopefully, as we complete this building and the other projects that are underway, we can continue to give some of that trust back to the community that we are hearing their concerns and that the board and administration are doing their due diligence to really look at the work and make sure we are making the best use of these taxpayer dollars,” he said.

The state of Missouri is currently conducting an audit of the school district.

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