Paving of Forum Drive high priority

By Bill Jenks, III
Mayor
Steady, yet significant progress continues to be made on the excavation and paving of Forum Drive between 18th Street and Old St. James Road. But for anyone who lives along this stretch of Forum or who has to travel it on a regular basis, it probably seems like it is not going fast enough.

That said, you can be assured that a significant portion of Forum Drive has already been milled, excavated and paved from 18th Street to California Drive, and about 1,100 feet of Forum to Old St. James Road remains to be paved.

The Public Works Department Street crew, which has completed the milling portion of Forum and is now excavating and paving,  continues to post detour signs and warning signs for your safety, and asks for your patience and cooperation while the rest of the road is repaved. Depending on the weather in the coming days, Forum Drive should be paved with a five-inch asphalt surface to Old St. James Road sometime in the next two weeks or so.

Now that the regular school year is over for Rolla Public Schools, I thought I would pass along some positive news recently released by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. According to an online article titled Missouri Schools Receive ‘What Parents Want Award’ posted on its Website (http://dese.mo.gov/news/2012/schoolmatch.htm), the Rolla Public School District was among 29 Missouri schools (out of 522) that have received the 2012 ‘What Parents Want Award” from SchoolMatch, an independent school selection consulting firm.

The release further states that based on information gathered through a nationwide survey of parents, schools are chosen for the award based on qualities parents desire for their child’s school. SchoolMatch also provides information to corporations, real estate firms, and economic development offices across the country to help families find schools for their children. Some of the other Missouri schools to receive the award are: Blue Springs, Brentwood, Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Independence, Jefferson City, Joplin R-VIII, Kirkwood R-VII, Springfield R-XII, St. Charles R-VI, Lee’s Summit R-VII, and Webster Groves. Education Commissioner Chris L. Nicastro said “these schools possess many of the characteristics essential to providing a high-quality education to students.”