School board majority favors FHS renovation

Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors made headway on its goal to have a high school facility plan ready by August at a work session Wednesday.

At the last work session, board members were given copies of a 2004 facility study by Stanley Consultants; a 2009 Shive-Hattery plan for an addition to the high school; and this year?s Fairfield High School staff and student facility surveys.

?This [Stanley] report discusses lots of issues and problems,? said Amy Miller. ?I?m shocked, well maybe shocked is too strong, about the depth of issues this report shows. It says it did not address any issues with the roof, because plans were already in place to get the roof fixed. And yet, here we are, eight years later and student surveys say there are buckets in the halls when it rains.

?Ventilation is a big thing mentioned by both students and staff. The biggest concern I have is a student comment about mold and pest infestations in the building,? said Miller. ?I don?t think anyone should have to attend classes under those conditions.?

Superintendent Art Sathoff cautioned Miller, ?I wouldn?t take the mold comment as a fact. We don?t have mold. We had moisture concerns in the music room and had it checked out by EMC [Insurance Company used by school districts and businesses] and the report was: no mold.?

Miller continued that she consulted her brother-in-law, an architect in Chicago, about remodeling versus building new.

?He hasn?t seen the building, he hasn?t seen any floor plans, this is just a conversation,? she said. ?He indicated if we went with remodeling, we?d have to totally gut the whole building. And my issue with this plan is that ventilation and air quality are not included in Phase I. So if we do this whole big remodel, we still wouldn?t have improved the air, which was a top priority for teachers and students.

?I think we need to build a new high school on land we currently have. Possibilities for the old building may include community uses, but not necessarily classes. ?

Jeremy Miller asked if issues raised in the 2004 Stanley report had been addressed. Anderson said some have been.

?My thoughts are, build an addition to house science and computer classrooms and labs, free-up old rooms,? he said. ?My first thought was to build an addition on the west side. The Stanley study shows an addition on the north side, and that actually looks more cost effective. I like how the plans are drawn, with the addition squared off. It?s maybe bigger than we need now. This music suite shown here is maybe not needed.

?I?m in favor of an addition, but scaled down in size from the plan presented by Stanley.?

Rich Metcalf said he?d read all the studies and thinks an addition on the north side is the best.

?I?m on the same page as Jeremy about this,? said Metcalf. ?It doesn?t need to be so big.?

?I don?t want to use all the money for a new addition, when we?ll need funds to renovate also,? said Jeremy Miller.

Sathoff said some of the renovation issues in the Stanley plan are already handled.

?We?ve done the electrical updating on the west end last summer, and we?ll do the east end this summer,? he said.

Anderson drew floor plans of the three-level high school to share her ideas.

?Mine is a combination,? she said. ?Our existing building is solid, but it has an antiquated layout. My idea is keep the gym, enlarge the kitchen, maintain all the classrooms and use them throughout the renovation process. I didn?t put the addition on the north because I didn?t want to affect the traffic flow to the football field. I don?t want to get rid of or block any windows and I didn?t want to disrupt the bus loading in front of the school.

?I propose building out an entryway in front of the auditorium main entrance that can accommodate the high school offices, which addresses security concerns.?

Anderson?s drawings propose an addition to the west of the auditorium, housing language arts, two computer labs, a media center and social studies. Project Lead the Way is moved down in the shop buildings. The center of the high school, between the west hallway along the auditorium and the restrooms and elevator on the east, she proposes leaving as a large open space through all three floors.

?It could be another gym, or a multi-purpose room and offered for community use,? she said.

Administrators appreciated the concept of a second gym at the high school for sports practices that now include some practices scheduled at 6 a.m. and some teams being bused to the middle school.

?All this is fine,? said Jerry Nelson, waving Anderson?s floor plan drawings. ?But it?s back up to $20 million, and it?s never going to happen.

?If we are going with an addition behind the building, the only things I want in there are math and science classes. We need to figure out how to get more math and science into our students. They get all these electives and don?t take the basics anymore.?

Sathoff pointed out it is a graduation requirement for students to take three years each of math and science.

?And I am sure that any students contemplating college are urged to take four years of math and science,? said Sathoff.

?Well, we need to also get an elevator in the west end for handicap access to the auditorium,? said Nelson. ?A four-room addition is plenty. Move the wrestling room and lockers into the old shop, that opens up rooms for music.

Jeri Kunkle said a lot of problems highlighted in the Stanley report have been repaired.

?We worked very hard with 50 stakeholders to come up with a plan [previously]? she said. ?I?d like to know why Shive-Hattery moved the addition to the west instead of north. I like windows and having natural light. I?d like to see a music suite ? music and band are a huge part of the school and those students who excel in music also do well in math and science.

?I?m in favor of taking the Stanley plans and moving the addition to the west or keeping it north. The main core classrooms should be in the addition, along with storage space and restrooms. Move the students in there, move art out of the basement, move the business class into the old library ? we?d probably have to give up air conditioning. We need to update the air circulation, electrical and plumbing. And do it all with one ballot question.

?People in the community who attended Fairfield High School are tied to the building,? said Kunkle. ?People who moved here, new, wonder why we haven?t updated.

?I feel very strongly that we need to use the plans we have because so many people invested so much time and effort into it.?

?I realize a tremendous amount of hours were put into those plans, but we have to come up with something that benefits students, something that will endure through the years,? said Bob Waugh. ?With the existing building, we have enough square footage for our student population. It?s just not arranged right.

?If we build on the north side, we?ll only make that area more congested,? said Waugh. ?If we?re going to build anything, I think we should build up; I don?t think we should build out. We need to look at revamping the building, re-do the sizes of classrooms. I don?t think the public wants a $20 million bond issue. I think air quality in the high school is a main priority.?

With all seven board members having weighed-in with their ideas on moving forward, more discussion and some consensus began.

Amy Miller said she liked Anderson?s floor plan. ?I think there are five of us who agree we need to build an addition,? said Miller. ?But I don?t see how we can knock enough walls down to get that building renovated and enlarge classrooms when we have to re-do plumbing, electrical and air.?

Sathoff reminded the board that all seven should be in agreement about a facility plan before attempting to present it to the public.

?I think the board is close in agreeing with the priorities ranked by the teachers and students,? said Sathoff.

?We need to do a better job of communicating with the community and come up with ideas together,? said Kunkle. ?The community will support a plan if we show we?ve done our due diligence.?

?We have to make it affordable,? added Waugh.

The next board work session is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 2 at the Administration/Curriculum/Technology Center.