BELLE — Maries County R-2 Board of Education on Jan. 29 was informed that groundwork and concrete at the Early Childhood Education Center were being completed, change orders are expected, but the project is still within budget.

Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham said on Tuesday that they are excited about the project’s future.

“We are very pleased with the progress and looking forward to seeing the next phases of construction,” Basham said. “Groundwork has been done and concerete has been poured.”

While reviewing updates on the project during the January meeting, Basham told the board she had met with the architects and engineers, but already expected at least one change.

“I don’t want a chainlink fence around our playground,” Basham said. “I would prefer a fence that you can’t see through just cause we’re out there.”

Board members questioned if there is a city ordinance against privacy fences. Wade Guffey from American Realty and Development told the board there isn’t an ordinance against privacy fences.

“For safety purposes, we need it not to be a chain link fence,” Basham said. “The other thing we need to talk about is the playground, since they are out there. If we’re going to keep it grass. Are we going to pour concrete?”

She suggested something similar to the foam that the St. James School District uses on its playground.

“I would like to see if we can go ahead and put that on ours,” Basham said. “I don’t have a total cost yet, but it will make a different type of land underneath it.”

Basham said she would prefer CMEC’s Justin Smith prepare the ground while he is already on site.

Board Member Paul Shanks asked for a budget update. Basham said they haven’t made any changes to the building plans at this point, and what they were discussing was outside the $1.5 million budgeted for the building. Basham said they have about $400,000 allocated toward the finishing touches of the building.