L-B welcomes community to new school

The Liberty-Benton community got the chance to walk through the halls of the new prekindergarten through eighth-grade school building on Monday. The school includes a brand-new playground and an 800-seat auditorium. Construction of the new school began in July 2021. "I've been a part of the construction process from (the) visioning portion all the way through to the end," said Superintendent Bruce Otley. "It is literally a dream come true. (The school) marks the end of a three-year journey we were on." Angelia Higgins will send her son to kindergarten next year. She toured the school with her family during the open house. "I really like their open area classroom learning concepts," she said. "Just learning through different ways than we did growing up just in a classroom." Not everything was smooth sailing during the construction of the school. Parents raised concerns in November 2022 about the design of the classroom doors being mostly tempered glass, and security issues that might bring. A collaborative group between Liberty-Benton faculty, staff (including Otley, who was director of operations at the time) and parents was created to address the safety concerns about the new school building. The group was able to change the door design, as well as tackle other safety/security concerns in the building. The group has not revealed any specifics about the design changes in the school due to safety reasons. "What I can say is the new building already came equipped with lots of security enhancements as a part of the build and we have chosen to improve and increase some of those things," Otley said. "I'm really not at liberty to say specifically what, but I can tell you I feel very good about safety and security on both campuses." Despite the previous safety concerns, Higgins said she's excited for her son to start school next fall. "It's nice to see my son getting different opportunities and at a nice school," she said. This year marks Otley's first as superintendent of the district. Otley has served the L-B school district as the middle school principal and director of operations for a total of 17 years. School begins for the L-B school district on Tuesday.