Education is always a top priority during the legislative session. Sometimes those priorities are manifested in the physical buildings themselves. As lawmakers we ask, “Are the school buildings under the state’s purview safe? In need of repair?” During this past session we passed legislation that allows for funding repairs to buildings and campuses across the state, education institutions, historic sites and parks and state government buildings.

Many leaders of our colleges and universities across the state worry about the funding to not only sustain their school, staff and facilities but also how to provide and save for repairs for needed safety and technology measures. The General Assembly considered and voted on three capital improvement bills, House Bills 17, 18 and 19,  that will provide funds for maintenance and repair as well as 50-50 matching capital projects for higher education.  

The legislation authorizes $200 million in appropriations for capital projects at public colleges and universities across the state. The University of Central Missouri (UCM) was allocated $12,262,520 for repair and renovations including cabinetry, flooring, lighting, support infrastructure repair, and exterior renovation of UCM’s W.C. Morris Science Building.

The W.C. Morris Science Building is a four-story classroom building on the west side of the campus. Although a few labs and classrooms have been renovated in recent years, these will be the first major renovations of the facility since it was built in 1968. The appropriations will provide a partial renovation focusing on use and safety of existing teaching labs and classrooms in chemistry, physics, math, biology and earth science.

The building does not currently have the necessary classroom and lab space to serve the changing needs of the science and math programs. Such issues have resulted in a reduced number of seats available for both the general education courses and the major specific courses in math and science. The university finds itself in the unenviable position of having inferior, unsafe and outdated lab equipment, thus making it difficult to recruit students in those fields.  

As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.

Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District.