Fairfield school district wants public input on long-term planning

FAIRFIELD – The public is invited to give input about the Fairfield Community School District’s needs during a couple of meetings in late November.

The Fairfield school board has hired FEH Design of Dubuque to gather information from the public and from an advisory task force that was formed to study the district’s long-term needs and its vision. The advisory task force has met three times, and will do so again today, Wednesday, at the Fairfield Middle School from 6-7 p.m., and for the fifth and final time on Monday, Nov. 14 from 6-7 p.m. at the same place.

These meetings are open to the public, and the public will have a chance to lend its voice to the planning process during two “spark sessions” on Nov. 21-22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Fairfield School Superintendent Laurie Noll said these sessions are formatted to allow people to drop in for any length of time and share their ideas with the design team.

“We’d love to have people come to the spark sessions and share their ideas,” she said. “We’ve held several meetings, and it doesn’t mean you can’t come if you haven’t been to another meeting. We’re trying to build a swell of input from the community.”

FED Design has been running the advisory committee meetings. The firm was hired in the wake of the failed bond vote in September 2021 that would have taken out a $34 million bond for a new middle school and other improvements. It needed 60 percent to pass and received 49 percent of the vote. Had the bond been approved, the district planned to start construction on the new middle school in 2022 and to finish it in time for the 2024-25 school year.

Noll said the school board has not decided whether it will attempt another bond. She said the input from the public will help decide that. The purpose of these planning meetings is to get a sense of what the community wants and expects from its school facilities, its security, educational services and space needs.

The district has sent a survey to its employees asking for their input on what the district needs most.

“That could cover anything from adequate bathroom size to storage,” she said. “We’re open to gathering information so we can look at all those common items and determine what the district needs.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com