The Fox C-6 School District will have two smoother parking lots and a better road on the Fox campus this school year.
Board of Education members voted unanimously on July 14 to pay Accurate Asphalt Paving Co. of Fenton $634,429 to replace asphalt at Rockport Heights and Sherwood elementary schools and on Fox Athletic Drive, which runs toward Fox High School’s baseball and softball field on the Fox campus in Arnold.
The board also approved an agreement to hold graduation ceremonies at the Chaifetz Arena on the St. Louis University campus for a second straight year, increase overtime pay for Arnold Police officers working after-school events and finalized contracts to install dimmers in classrooms and secure athletic training services at its two high schools for the next four years.
During the board meeting, the American Heart Association also recognized Fox C-6 as a member of its $1 million club for the district’s commitment to the association’s annual fundraising efforts.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the Chaifetz agreement, Arnold Police overtime pay and four-year deal with Mercy Healthcare for athletic training services.
Fox C-6 will pay $36,000 to hold Fox and Seckman high schools’ graduation ceremonies at Chaifetz, 1 S. Compton Ave., in St. Louis. The ceremonies will be held on June 1, 2027, for Seckman High and June 2, 2027, for Fox High.
The district agreed to pay Arnold Police officers $73 per hour to work after-school events, such as athletic competitions, this school year. Last school year, Arnold Police were paid $55 per hour for overtime duties.
Fox C-6 will pay Mercy Healthcare a total of $326,710 over the next four years for athletic training services at Fox and Seckman high schools.
Board members voted 5-2 to approve paying $508,000 to Reinhold Electric of St. Louis to install dimmer switches throughout the district. Board treasurer Michael Myers and member Jim Chellew voted against finalizing the deal.
Asphalt
Fox C-6 COO Tracy Schmidt said work to replace asphalt at Sherwood Elementary in Arnold started July 15. After that parking lot is complete, Accurate Paving will replace asphalt at Rockport Heights Elementary in Arnold, he said. The two projects are expected to be completed on Aug. 10.
Schmidt said the Fox Athletic Drive project will begin after the school year starts on Aug. 25. It is expected to be completed early in the fall.
“Repaving these parking lots will be a huge improvement that will benefit our students, parents, staff and community,” he said. “Currently, the parking lots are deteriorating due to age and weather. This will be a full-scale replacement instead of short-term fix.
“We recognize that school parking lots, drop-off lanes and playgrounds are high-traffic zones where safety, drainage and structural integrity are paramount. Our proposed milling, resurfacing and striping plan will transform these tired, worn-out surfaces into highly visible, structurally sound and organized spaces.”
Schmidt said the district is replacing 105,371 square feet of asphalt at Sherwood, 119,809 square feet at Rockport Heights, and 6,000 square feet on Fox Athletic Drive.
Fox C-6 also anticipates paying about $32,000 to fix a drainage issue at Sherwood Elementary. That deal has not been finalized.
“The grading work is on the south side of the building,” Schmidt said. “Rainwater on the property collects on the parking lot, playground and field at the school. The amount of water would cause the latter two areas to be unusable for days after it rains, including eroding mulch and soil.
“The asphalt in that location is deteriorating and also large potholes form due the water sitting on the lot. The road that encircles the school will also be paved, providing more space and functionality for the campus.”
The district is paying for the asphalt projects with its capital improvement funds and not money from the $48 million bond issue, called Proposition M, which was approved in April.
Prop M money will be used for HVAC system and roof replacements, installation of safety and security improvements in buildings and paying off existing leases.
Schmidt told the board Fox C-6 had anticipated paying about $700,000 for the three asphalt replacement projects and grading work at Sherwood Elementary.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said improving parking lots are important.
“I didn’t realize the bang we would get for that investment,” he said. “I put out a post about Rockport getting drainage repair ready, and we have had a ton of engagement with that. People are excited. It is really something that is important to our community. I am glad we are able to utilize existing funds.”
Graduation
Fox C-6 brought its high school graduation ceremonies back to Chaifetz after this school year. The district had held ceremonies at The Family Arena in St. Charles since 2021, when Chaifetz was not available due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The district returned to Chaifetz because it was holding its graduation ceremonies on Mother’s Day each year, and the two ceremonies had to be held on the same day.
“That is a win-win for everybody,” Fregeau said. “Mother’s Day becomes an isolated, special day just for moms. They don’t have to split their allegiance, and each school gets its own night. The energies are focused on one school per evening.”
Overtime
Last month, board members approved a new agreement with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which provides deputies to work as school resource officers and security at after-school events for the district’s 11 county schools.
The new deal increased overtime pay for deputies from $70.96 per hour to $73 per hour.
The Arnold Police provide SROs and security at after-school events for the five Fox C-6 schools within the city’s limits.
Schmidt said the district paid Arnold Police officers $55 per hour in overtime pay for after-school events. He said Fox C-6 paid a total of $36,000 in overtime pay during the 2025-2026 school year.
“We are now paying Arnold and Jefferson County the same rate, and that is only fair,” Fregeau said. “They both provide great service and add to the safety and security of our events. It is a valuable asset to have.”
Dimmers
Board members voted 5-1 on June 16 to have Reinhold install 449 dimming controls in classrooms and offices. Myers was the only board member to vote against the agreement.
After the June vote, Myers said he voted against the project because there was not an itemized list of what the district was purchasing.
The dimming controls will be installed in classrooms and offices at the Don Earl Early Childhood Center, Clyde Hamrick, Guffey, Hodge, Lone Dell, Meramec Heights, Rockport, Seckman and Simpson elementary schools; and at Antonia, Ridgewood and Seckman middle schools.
Schmidt said the dimming controls are expected to be installed in all rooms by Aug. 3.
Chellew said he voted against the contract after voting in favor of the agreement because he felt community members didn’t understand the dimmer switch project is separate from a light replacement project that is expected to save the district money. He also said he was concerned that only two companies submitted bids for the dimmer switch project.
“There are only a couple of reasons for why you would only have two bidders on a project like that,” Chellew said. “First of all, the specs were not very clear, or there was something else that wasn’t communicated well. That particular project, in my mind, should have had five or six bidders.
“It has been approved, so this is more of an academic discussion. For me, I think it is important that anything we put out for bid the specification for the project need to be clear. If there are any questions or they are not clear, we need to pull back on it and make sure that it is cleared up. Two bidders alone on that project did not make sense to me.”
On July 15, Fregeau told the board there were some errors in the dimmer switch bid documents.
“We had to clean that up, and I think that created some confusion among some of the bidders,” he said. “We’re going to be better moving forward.”
In April, the district entered a separate agreement with Veregy to install lighting systems in 13 buildings to reduce energy costs.
The project will cost a total of $5,935,842, but the project is structured as a Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract, meaning the energy and operational savings generated by the new equipment are contractually guaranteed to cover the total cost of the project, board documents show.
The lighting projects will be done at Guffey, Hamrick, Hodge, Lone Dell, Meramec Heights, Rockport Heights, Seckman and Simpson elementary schools; Antonia, Ridgewood and Seckman middle schools; the Don Earl Early Childhood Center and Rickman Auditorium.
Athletic training services
Fox C-6 will pay Mercy $70,000 for the first year of the deal, $75,600 for the second year, $79,380 for the third year and $85,730 for the final year.
The district also will pay an additional $4,000 total to cover home tournaments at Fox and Seckman high schools.
When the agreement was approved in April, district officials said Mercy submitted the only proposal to provide athletic training services.
In April, Schmidt said the Mercy athletic trainers currently assigned to Fox and Seckman high schools will remain at their current schools.
“Coaches and both athletic directors are very happy with the service,” he said. “The relationship is big for our students and their support.”
American Heart Association
Kary Bachert, the development director for school engagement for the American Heart Association, presented Fox C-6 with a banner recognizing the district as a member of the association’s $1 million club.
She told the board Fox C-6 has contributed $1.41 million to the association over the years. She said the district collected $21,435 last school year to help the American Heart Association to pay for heart research.
Rockport Heights Elementary student Hannah Caputa, who served as an American Heart Association local youth ambassador this past school year, and Hodge Elementary student Zander Cruz, who collected more than $1,000 for the American Heart Association this past school year, gave the banner to Dustin Bain, assistant superintendent for elementary education.
Caputa and Cruz also told the board about their heart conditions and why they feel it is important for the district to help support the American Heart Association.