The Montgomery County R-II School District has made plans to open an alternative school for students seventh through 12th grade in early 2024.

The district purchased a 4,500-square foot building at 501 Niedergerke in Montgomery City to house the alternative school. The cost was $420,000 on a 10-year lease. R-II Superintendent Dr. Tracy Bottoms said he hopes the building will be paid off by the fourth year.

“It’s going to cost us $40,000-$50,000 annually,” Bottoms said. “The last building project that was done in Lincoln County was $300 per square foot. This building is 4,500 square feet. If I built that building, it would cost me $1.35 million.”

The purchase was approved by the R-II School Board during a special meeting on May 17.

“Our folks are excited, but nervous,” Bottoms said. “The nervousness is the nervousness of everyone. We never had an alternative building. So how do we continue to mold that to make it successful?”

Bottoms said school officials have discussed opening an alternative school for the last two years. The alternative school will have between 12 to 16 students with smaller class sizes and more one-on-one instruction. It also will help increase graduation rates and decrease drop-out rates.

“If we can keep these kids here and limit the possibility of future dropouts and kids not being successful academically, it’s a win-win for everybody,” said Bottoms, who has been district superintendent since 2020. “It’s a win for the kids, a win for the families and a win for the district as well.”

Bottoms said getting a high school diploma is very important for all students.

“Ten years ago, if you walked out without a diploma and got a GED, a GED is great,” Bottoms said. “Now, if you don’t have a high school diploma, you have put yourself behind the 8-ball that you can’t work yourself out of.”

The building, located one mile from the Montgomery County Middle School/High School Complex, was formerly the Montgomery County Family Services building. Bottoms said the building is privately owned by a Moberly resident.

“We really haven’t given much thought about buying a building because you don’t buy new buildings,” Bottoms said. “Typically, you build buildings. We worked with a local vendor to look at that. We went over and toured it. The board and the administration had a chance to tour it. What we realized is that the building was set up with a lot of the things that we would need. We need separate spaces. We need meeting rooms. We need a little office space.”

Bottoms said he hopes the building will be open by January 2024. Renovation of the building will start this summer.

“It doesn’t need a complete overhaul in there, but we’re going to take down a couple of walls to open it up a little bit,” Bottoms said. “We’re going to replace the flooring. We need to do a little plumbing work there and move some things around.”