W-MU School Board ready for public input on building projects

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? The Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District assembled its Facilitation Team Wednesday night in order to get a jump-start on convincing the public to approve a bond referendum that will likely be in the voter?s future.

This spring, the district hired Estes Construction to perform a building assessment, a review that would help guide the school board as to what construction projects would be necessary to keep the building in tip-top shape.

A few of the projects the board zeroed in on included updating the HVAC system, removing the portable classrooms and building a new, permanent space, as well as expanding the cafeteria. However, before any building projects are decided upon, the district wants the community?s input. Thus, a Facilitation Team was created to help get the community involved and informed.

?We don?t want this to just be the school?s idea,? said Superintendent Jeff Maeder. ?We want the community?s input.?

The Facilitation Team is just the beginning. The district plans to have three community forums in order to not only show the community the possible building plans and funding options, but to get residents? input on what projects they feel would be most beneficial to the district.

?Anytime the school district needs to take a look at investing in their buildings is a great time to involve the community,? said Sam Johnson, director of the PK-12 design group for BLDD Architects, a firm that has been hired to assist with the community forums.

?You need to build social capital in the community,? Johnson said of assembling a Facilitation Team and opening up the planning process to the community. ?We can come up with the best plan in the world, but if it?s not a plan that is supported by the community then it is really of no value.?

The Facilitation Team is made up of members from the school district ? both principals and one faculty member ? representatives from Estes and BLDD and six community members.

The first item on Wednesday night?s agenda was to select dates for upcoming community forums and team meetings. The district is fairly certain that any building project will need a bond referendum vote, although Maeder cautions that has not been 100 percent decided as the projects are still up in the air. However, the board is working under the timeline of having a vote on Feb. 7. That means all information would need to be submitted to the county by Dec. 23.

?It?s not that we?re trying to rush anything through, by any means,? said Maeder. ?It?s just that we have the momentum right now and we don?t want to lose it.?

Maeder continued, ?We want people to look at W-MU as the school of choice. We want to have a nice, attractive learning environment for the kids.?

The community meetings will be held on Monday, Oct. 17; Wednesday, Nov. 9; and Wednesday, Nov. 30, with all meetings being held at 6 p.m.

Johnson stated his goal is to see 100 community members at each meeting.

Team meetings will be on Wednesday, Oct. 26; Wednesday, Nov. 16; and Wednesday, Dec. 7, all at 6 p.m.