Linn-Mar opens new high school labs, ahead of schedule

MARION - Linn-Mar High School started fall classes Monday with new arts and industrial technology labs on the north side of the school, all completed about two months ahead of schedule.

High School Renovation Project Manager Chad Schumacher showed slides of students filling new arts, metals and engineering labs to school board members at Monday night's meeting.

The slides were in sharp contrast to mid-July, when board members donned hard hats and toured a powerless, debris-strewn construction area for an update on the high school's $30 million renovation project.

'Not everything is in the cabinetry we finished installing over the weekend,” Schumacher told board members. 'But we're in the classrooms and teaching.”

Schumacher reported that general contractor Larson Construction had 25 to 30 people working overtime and weekends since July to move that part of the construction project forward from an originally scheduled date in October. The district also had a 12-person custodial crew working over the summer to ensure the building was ready for classes.

Also at Monday's meeting, Linn-Mar Superintendent Quintin Shepherd reported that a net increase in enrollment is beginning to fill the district's available classroom space.

That, in turn, is causing administrators to look more closely at incoming enrollment requests and to develop a timeline to address the problem.

Shepherd reported Monday's enrollment at 7,123 students, a net increase of 74 from last year.

He said that included 3,350 elementary students, up 21 from last year; 1,711 middle school students, up 69; and 2,062 high school students, down 16.