Survey: Fairfield residents want to downsize number of school buildings

FAIRFIELD — A survey of Fairfield residents indicates that a majority of them want to reduce the number of school buildings the district maintains.

The Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors learned this and many other results of a recent survey during its regular board meeting Monday night. The board hired FEH Design to conduct an online survey of residents about the strategic direction of the district. Kevin Eipperle, an architect with FEH Design, reported on the result of that survey, and gave the board a list of recommendations based on the survey and the “spark sessions” the company hosted last November.

Eipperle said 669 people took the online survey, which he said was shockingly large.

“We’re pretty happy if we can hit 300,” he said.

Of those 669 responses, about 70 percent of them indicated they wanted the district to downsize from four buildings as a way to save money. The district runs two elementary buildings, a middle school and a high school. Eipperle said that the district’s enrollment has declined almost 10 percent in the last six years, from 1,705 to 1,561 in the last school year. He said the board will need to keep that in mind as it makes long-term plans for the district.

Eipperle said Fairfield’s allocation of space could be more efficient. For instance, Washington Elementary School is crowded, while Fairfield High School might have more space than it needs.

“The high school is not designed efficiently, and it’s grown organically,” he said. “It has just under 500 students, but if you look at its square footage, we would expect it to hold over 800 students. It has more capacity than students.”

Washington Elementary School has 281 students, but Eipperle said that its square footage would suggest that it would serve closer to 190 students.

“We’ve heard from community members that it’s too small,” he said.

Eipperle said that one thing the district might want to consider is moving grades around, perhaps moving first grade out of Washington Elementary, or sending eighth-graders to the high school.

When residents took the survey, which was available for about 10 weeks, they were asked for their thoughts on various scenarios for restructuring the district’s use of space, how many buildings it should have, where to put them, etc. Eipperle said the survey results showed support for developing a long-range plan where all students attend a central campus.

“That might be a 50-year plan,” he said. “Whether they would be in one building or three separate buildings on the same campus, it would require a lot of investment over time.”

Eipperle said the middle school site is the most conducive to being the central campus since it has so much land, but he added that Fairfield residents might want to consider the high school, too, because of its proximity to athletic facilities.

The recommendations from FEH to the school board included following the advice of 70 percent of responders to the survey and reduce the number of buildings in the district, follow the survey results and address all urgent items dealing with maintenance and ADA compliance, and limit a future bond vote to $23 million. To pass a bond, 60 percent of voters need to vote in favor. If the board opted for a bond, the earliest it would do so is November 2024.

The school board and FEH will get together to plan a work session to discuss the results of the survey further, though they have not chosen a date.

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