Duquesne School History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="01d9e8b3.gif"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Duquesne School History<B>   </B></FONT><A HREF="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Duquesne"><U><B>Duquesne School</B></U></A></div> <div> The two-room Amity school house was moved from Seventh Street, one fourth-mile west of Duquesne Road,</div> <div> to the present site about 1900.  The name was officially changed to Duquesne in 1922.  Two wood-frame</div> <div> buildings housed eight grades until 1937 when the school burned.  A four-classroom brick building was built</div> <div> and opened in 1938.</div> <bR> <div> <I>The Joplin Globe, Our Neighbor, April 29, 1993</I></div> <div> <I>Echoes of School Bells, Helen Katherine Hunter</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="08e620b0.jpg" border=0 width="610" height="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> <bR> <div> December 20, 2011</div> <div> Joplin District to Merge Elementary Schools</div> <div> By Kelsey Ryan kryan@joplinglobe.com</div> <bR> <div> JOPLIN, Mo. — The Joplin School Board on Monday night voted to not only rebuild East Middle School at its site in Duquesne </div> <div> but also construct a combined Duenweg and Duquesne elementary school there.</div> <bR> <div> It also endorsed combining Irving and Emerson elementary schools in one building at the location of what now is the destroyed </div> <div> St. John’s Regional Medical Center.</div> <bR> <div> The district’s challenge, officials said, is to construct permanent buildings to succeed the schools that were destroyed in the </div> <div> May 22 tornado: Joplin High School, Franklin Technology Center, East Middle School, and Irving and Emerson elementaries.</div> <bR> <div> But officials haven’t figured out how to come up with the money to span a potential $21.3 million shortfall.</div> <bR> <div> The estimated total cost for replacing the five destroyed schools plus building a combined Duenweg and Duquesne building </div> <div> would be more than $132.3 million, but so far officials have only been able to find sources for $111 million.</div> <bR> <div> Potential funding sources to make up for the gap are additional insurance proceeds, donations, federal Community Development</div> <div> grants, FEMA and SEMA funding, and a possible bond issue that could be on the ballot in April.</div> <bR> <div> The deadline to put an issue on the April ballot is Jan. 17, according to the Jasper County clerk’s office.</div> <bR> <div> When asked if plans for the buildings would be scaled down if funding isn’t available, Superintendent C.J. Huff said it would </div> <div> be especially difficult to do so for the elementary schools because the district is essentially merging four schools into two.</div> <bR> <div> PROXIMITY</div> <bR> <div> District officials said they were excited about collaborative opportunities with having the elementary and middle school students</div> <div>  in proximity and discussed possibilities of mentoring combined activities.</div> <bR> <div> “The site lends itself well to that opportunity, and it’s something we’ve studied and feel really good about,” Huff said on Monday night.  </div> <div> “There would be a lot of good opportunities for kids and staff, both.”</div> <bR> <div> So far, the district has purchased three lots to the south and east of the middle school for the rebuilding, nearly doubling size of the </div> <div> property the district owns at that location. The funding gap for the East Middle School and Duenweg-Duquesne combination alone is</div> <div>  an estimated $10 million.</div> <bR> <div> The district estimates that the cost for the new East Middle School building will be more than $23 million, but that there is only about </div> <div> $21 million in available funding. At that same site, the plan calls for building an elementary school that would cost an estimated $9.5 million. </div> <div> For that elementary, the combined Duenweg-Duquesne, there is currently $1.5 million in available funding, leaving an $8 million funding </div> <div> gap for that school.</div> <bR> <div> For the combined Irving-Emerson, which will be located on land donated by St. John’s Mercy Health System, the district estimates the </div> <div> cost to be about $9.5 million, with a funding gap of about $3.3 million.</div> <bR> <div> The board approved a design plan that officially merges Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center, a move that had already</div> <div> been discussed but not completed. So far, the district has acquired 75 properties to the south and west of the high school, has an oral </div> <div> agreement with one property and is still negotiating on another. By moving the school out of the flood plain, district officials say they </div> <div> could qualify for millions in federal dollars.</div> <bR> <div> The additional properties also mean that 24th Street will be closed and no longer a through street.</div> <bR> <div> The estimated cost for the new combined high school and center is $90 million, with an $8 million shortfall estimated.</div> <bR> <div> REDISTRICTING</div> <bR> <div> The board will likely vote on redistricting attendance zones later as the schools are rebuilt, but officials have discussed grandfathering </div> <div> in students at their previous schools.</div> <bR> <div> All of the votes Monday night were unanimous in favor of the measures except for the vote on moving forward with site plans on land </div> <div> donated by St. John’s and keeping the name Irving Elementary. Member Anne Sharp voted against that measure.</div> <bR> <div> During discussion, Sharp said she was unsure if the board should vote on the site plans for Irving-Emerson since the district did not </div> <div> yet own the property.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>