SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—A groundbreaking ceremony was held in early June for the new $20 million Boyd Elementary School in Springfield.

Located on a site less than a mile from the existing Boyd Elementary, the new school will provide innovative spaces for preschool classrooms, improved accessibility, learning, separate gym and cafeteria spaces and a safe room for staff and 300 students.

“This building will open so many opportunities for our students,” said Boyd Principal Angela Holloway-Payne in a statement.

“One of the most important to our students is ample restrooms in close proximity to classrooms. I really don’t think our kids realize that this means less time out of the classroom and more instructional time.”

Added School Board President Dr. Alina Lehnert, “The new school to be constructed on this site is an example of the Springfield School Board’s commitment to doing what is best for students.

We believe that by investing in our students and schools, we are investing not only in Boyd’s future but in the best interests of Springfield, too.”

The architects on this project include H Design Group and Hollis & Miller Architects. The general contractor is BP Builders.

Completion is slated for the 2021-2022 school year.

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Should the district approve the move, LVDLCS would complete a variety of work on the soon-to-be-vacated space, adding new bathrooms, a kitchen and cafeteria to the existing School for the Arts building. Work would also include converting a theater into a gym and removing practice rooms to increase classroom sizes. Upon completion, the relocated school will contain 19 regular education classrooms, a dedicated area for learning support students and a section for English Language Learners.

However, in its efforts to relocate, the LVDLCS has encountered several legal roadblocks. For example, the building’s current lease states that the building owner is responsible for soliciting bids and hiring out construction work, which would be funded by the charter school. The school would be required to pay 100 percent of construction costs up front, after which it would receive a 50 percent rebate on rent.

Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy, who has requested a legal review of this case, told Lehigh Valley Live that the charter school is using taxpayer dollars to pay for construction projects that haven’t been bid in compliance with state laws governing public school construction.

"It is skirting the law," Roy said of the school. "It may be doing that legally.”

As for LVDLCS’s defense, the charter school has agreed to comply with a legal review to make sure everything is being done according to regulations, announced school principal, Lisa Pluchinsky.

Providing the legal teams involved can agree on the lease language, the school’s relocation and expansion may soon be ready for a board vote, Roy said.

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