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May 18, 2007

More building options offered

By BRIDGET FRYMAN

Goshen, Ind — Two became five.

The two remaining grade configuration options for a new school building evolved into five options Thursday, although one of the original options would not accommodate Goshen’s growth, Superintendent Bruce Stahly said.

The feasibility study task force is considering those options next Thursday and will hopefully have a recommendation to be presented to the school board May 29.

Option 1, which called for K-6 elementary schools and building one new school for a cost of $16.7 million, would not provide enough space based on Goshen’s projected enrollment.

Stahly instead developed three other options from option one. Option 1x would build a 638-student building and add four classrooms to Model Elementary School for $19.4 million.

Model has more area around it available for another addition, and those four classrooms would bring it to about the same capacity as Prairie View, Stahly said.

Option 1y would create a 764-student school for an estimated $19.9 million, but Stahly said he would not recommend that because of the large number of students in one building.

Option 1z would have a 947-student building, but essentially would be two schools within one building. It would have food service in the center serving two cafeterias, one library and one larger gym.

Stahly warned the task force that redistricting for all of Option 1 would have islands, or small pockets of neighborhoods that would be sent to one school, while all the homes around it would be in another elementary district.

“Personally I don’t like islands,” he said. “We have close to one now (in Waterford’s district). I would be concerned with redistricting it would end up that way.”

Option 3 is also still on the table. It calls for a new fifth- and sixth-grade building for $28.1 million. Task force members met in small groups to begin ranking those new school and other improvement options the latter part of their meeting.

Dennis Cahill, vice president of planning for Odle McGuire Shook, said he will open next week’s meeting with a summary of those rankings to help the group work toward a consensus on a final recommendation.

In addition to the music department, other projects up for consideration are:

• Relocating GHS administration offices and child care, $5.7 million

• GHS technology upgrade, $1.3 million

• GHS site development, including parking, widening the practice field west of 10th Street, new tennis courts south of the track and new softball fields north of U.S. 33, $2.1 million

• Renovation of a science classroom at Goshen Middle School, $597,000

Also on the list is work to both the middle school and high school pools, but cost estimates were made without having a pool consultant examine the existing pools and equipment.

GHS was priced at nearly $2.2 million and GMS at almost $2.1 million.

Stahly cautioned the group that those renovations would not address other issues with the pools, including the size of the deck and viewing area at the high school.

Cahill told the task force that the pool issue is easily more complicated than the music department’s request, because the corporation is dealing with a 40-year-old swimming pool.

The $4.6 million estimate for the kitchen and cafeteria at Goshen Middle School would likely cost less than that. Principal Ann Eaton said that by taking the sixth-graders out of the building, some of the work would not be needed.

Task force members will not be considering entrance and security upgrades at West Goshen and Chandler elementary schools, as Superintendent Bruce Stahly said there are funds available now for that work to be done, possibly this summer.



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