Almost ready | Oliver Brown Elementary still on track to welcome students in August

Apr. 10—Erin Lopez said she is more than ready to have her first "Bison" roaming the halls of the Manhattan-Ogden school district's newest elementary building.

"It's coming together extremely nicely, and I'm super excited to see it open and get kids in here at this point," said Erin Lopez, principal of Oliver Brown Elementary School. "I'm ready for it to be filled."

The Mercury took a tour on April 3 to visit the school construction site at 8747 Jackie's Way in Pottawatomie County. The comma-shaped building sits on a 19.6-acre property in a former corn field.

Approved by voters in 2018 as part of a $129.5 million bond issue, USD 383 board members and officials broke ground on Oliver Brown Elementary in February 2020, just before the pandemic struck. USD 383 construction owners representative Trisha Brooke-Fruendt said crews have worked through the pandemic while following health and safety protocols to finish the school in time for the start of the 2021-22 academic year on Aug. 18.

Brooke-Fruendt said crews are trying to stay caught up as Mother Nature interferes.

"Weather has been killing us again," Brooke-Fruendt said.

Roofers have been fighting Kansas wind and rain but working through the weather conditions safely to meet their completion deadline. Interior safety features such as the two FEMA-approved emergency shelters are complete and rated to withstand wind speeds of more than 250 miles per hour.

Brooke-Fruendt said recent thunderstorms caused some delay to work on the upper roof portion of the media center — the school's centerpiece with large rectangular windows lining the ceiling and expansive glass overlooking the neighborhood to the southwest of the property.

Officials said about two-thirds of the construction is completed. Crews install lighting and fire alarm systems while painters finish block-filling the concrete walls. In the coming weeks, crews will return to work on the classrooms and corridors in the southern half of the school.

Lopez said while it might be hard to imagine in the school's current dust-covered state of near completion, it will look spectacular with paint and new furniture.

"(There will be) lots of bright colors, and the furniture will match all of that; it'll really come together nicely with the color schemes," Lopez said.

Brooke-Fruendt said the major contractors on the job, Hutton/BHS Construction of Manhattan, have "committed to stay on the job and finish it" in time for classes to start this fall. Officials anticipate completing the north portion of the school in May, with the southern portion to follow in mid-June, weather permitting. Right now, workers are putting finishing touches to several sections of the building, including taking measurements for the custom-built library shelves. Brooke-Fruendt said she gave tours of the building to Pottawatomie County law enforcement, emergency management, EMS and firefighters as well as USD 383 board members in the past few weeks.

Although originally budgeted at $20.5 million, Brooke-Fruendt said the new school building's cost is coming around $18 million. Paper drop-sheets currently cover the polished concrete floors, and a stiff gust of wind will blow dust through the hallways. Brooke-Fruendt said she will likely start bringing in furniture for the north half of the building in May as rooms are finished.

"It's literally going to take me the entire summer to get this place furnished, stocked with supplies, and get Erin (Lopez) ready to go," Brooke-Fruendt said.

Oliver Brown Elementary, which has a bison mascot and brown and gold school colors, is named after the plaintiff in the historic 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education case. The Supreme Court's decision paved the way for the end of school segregation. Oliver Brown and his daughter, Linda Carol Brown, joined a dozen other families in a lawsuit against the Topeka Board of Education, arguing the "separate but equal" practices were unconstitutional.

Brown's other daughter, Cheryl Brown Henderson, who runs the Brown Foundation for Education Equity, could not attend the groundbreaking, but assistant superintendent Eric Reid said there is a possibility she will attend the school's grand opening, either virtually or in-person.

Lopez said the culture she wants to develop for the school will honor Brown and the plaintiffs in the case.

"Making sure that it's a welcoming environment, that everyone is accepted and celebrated, and that ... everyone is part of that culture," Lopez said.

Lopez said the school will have a display case in the main entryway featuring artifacts from the Brown family and the court hearings, along with other documents and items from the Civil Rights Era.

"it's about continuing to make change and make progress in our society, and our district wants to be part of that," Lopez said.

Oliver Brown Elementary will hold 475 students, and Lopez said they are in full force getting the building staffed. She said about half of the people she has tapped to teach in Oliver Brown are setting up their transfers within the district, and the other half will follow suit before the start of school.

"Hopefully we'll be able to get the staff together soon, and they'll be able to come see the building, and see where their classrooms will be," Lopez said.

Lopez's new office, located at the beginning of a long hallway near the secured front entrance to the school, is empty right now. When the school does open, she doesn't expect to spend the majority of her time in there. She said she will absolutely be the principal that spends more time meandering hallways than sitting at her desk.

"I will always be that person," Lopez said.