Plans for an auditorium for Ashland High School are moving forward.
 

The Ashland City Schools Board of Education discussed the auditorium and the school building projects at its organizational meeting Wednesday night.

Supt. Dr. Doug Marrah  said the committee meetings for the new elementary and middle school construction projects have been going well.
 

Marrah said the district will approve a separate contract with VSWC Architects for the auditorium and other high school additions to allow the project to move quickly.

"The auditorium is a little further ahead just because of our ability to do that because the project is locally funded," Marrah said.

The auditorium is expected to be completed in the summer of 2015. The other buildings are scheduled to open in the fall of 2015.
 

In other business, the board re-elected Tom Lavinder as president and Bob Hill as vice president.

The board also approved a resolution to provide for the issuance and sale of a second set of notes in anticipation of issuance of bonds.

The school board in December approved the issuance and sale of the first set of notes through lower interest rates over the life of the bond issue.

"We have saved taxpayers approximately $1.6 million by splitting up the two bond issues. The first issuance was for $10 million in 2012 and the second is for $17 million in 2013. It's a tax advantage and because of that the notes are lower, " Marrah said.

The board also approved increasing the classified substitute pay rate to $7.85 per hour following the state minimum wage increase that went into effect Jan. 1.