Since a Jefferson City Public Schools bond issue failed three years ago, the district has been working to piece together a plan that voters can stomach and will alleviate overcrowding.
Talks of a bond issue fizzled publicly after Superintendent Larry Linthacum suggested putting it on hold and "getting their house in order" before asking voters for a tax increase. Nearly a year later, the Board of Education is taking another look at the district's needs and how they should be addressed.
Most of the board members attended the Long Range Planning Committee meeting on Sept. 27 where members voted unanimously that the original committee recommendation to build a second high school, complete major renovations to the current high school, build a new elementary school, renovate Callaway Hills Elementary School and redraw boundary lines was still the agreed approach.
The plan is fluid, though. The district still needs to decide where an elementary school should be built and if it needs to do something about overcrowding at the middle schools.
Essentially, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about when a bond issue should be put on a ballot and what will be included in the project list. The committee recommendation has been described as a "blueprint" for the district moving forward. It's been more than two years since the committee investigated the district's needs. Board members said they need to re-evaluate their facilities, enrollment and project costs before designing a plan.
The News Tribune polled every board member and Superintendent Larry Linthacum to get their thoughts on a potential bond issue and what the next steps are.
The board has a facilities meeting on Oct. 24 and will further the discussion then.
Board member Rich AuBuchon declined to comment on the topics.
When should it be put on a ballot?
The overall consensus is that board members don't have an election month - April, August and November - or a year in mind. There's still a sense of urgency regarding overcrowding at every level of the district, but all of them said they didn't want to rush into forming a plan before vetting all the options and getting input from the community.
Linthacum said he didn't want to commit to a timeline because it's arguable how much time will be needed to create a plan they can defend.
President John Ruth was the only one who had a target date for April 2017, but said he still wasn't entirely sure when a bond issue election should be held or if they'll be ready by April.
During the April election, the bond issue would need a four-sevenths vote to pass. For the other months, a two-thirds vote would be needed.
"April is really the only date you could do something that year," Ruth said. "I think the board has to do all its due diligence to consider doing some part of that plan, if not the entire thing, in April."
"I think the thing we have to start being serious about discussing is the fact that our needs are not going away," he said. "The space issues are prevalent and if we don't do something soon, then we'll look back and say, 'I told you so.' I haven't formed an opinion yet about the package or whether we should break it into pieces."
Board member Ken Theroff said he's motivated by current low interest rates - the district's purchasing power could be diminished by higher rates if the election is put off. That being said, he didn't have a timeline in mind and wanted the board to get its facts straight before moving forward.
Board member Lorelei Schwartz has been part of the Long Range Planning Committee since its inception in 2013; it laid out a 20-year plan. The district's space issues aren't going to change, and the longer district officials wait, the more they eat into that timeline, she said.
"I'm not sure at what point our learning is going to be affected by the fact that we aren't accommodating growth in our district," she said. "Our new superintendent wanted to get his feet wet before tackling a bond issue, so we're kind of deferring to him as to when he's ready to tackle that issue."
What are the priorities?
Most of the board members responded that secondary (high school level) is one of the top priorities.
As it stands now, there isn't enough room for the current fourth- and sixth-grade classes when they get to the high school level, said board member Pam Murray.
Even though enrollment is slightly down overall, there are pockets of grades that schools won't be able to accommodate and the district needs to deal with that, she said. And the high school needs to be renovated. The building doesn't have enough classrooms with running water for science labs or enough outlets for technology, she said.
"A house never has enough outlets and that's magnified in schools where so much of the curriculum requires technology," Murray said.
Linthacum agreed that the fourth- and sixth-grade classes - because of their sizes - are the biggest concerns as they move through the school system.
"Secondary is the most pressing," he said. "But we also have space needs at the elementary schools. We need to weigh all of those."
Theroff echoed his sentiment and added that there are trailers at East and Pioneer Trail elementary schools. They want to move away from that as quickly as possible.
Board member Michael Couty was torn on what level should be addressed first.
"Elementary is an issue, middle school is an issue and high school is an issue, if you look at the population right now," Couty said. "I truly believe high school is at the top (of the list) with elementary, but you can't leave middle school out. It's pressing from the beginning to the end, and we need to look at what to tackle first."
Board member Steve Bruce said when he ran as a candidate, he was on the fence about whether the district should build a second high school or one large school. After being on the board for three years, he's talked to people of all walks of life and is certain two high schools is the best option. But it also comes with a higher price tag and the expense of running two fully staffed high schools.
"If that's what we choose to do, and it ends up being our primary focus, then next time we put it out, we need to do it loud and proud," Bruce said.
"We need to take our time and do it in a loud, very clear way that lays out exactly what our needs are, what the cost is and be very open. And hopefully do it in a way that energizes people."
What does the board want to know moving forward?
While the findings of the planning committee are still valuable and a good foundation moving forward, there's a lot of information that needs to be updated.
Couty said he'd like to see what the capacity is within the kindergarten class. Comparing the schools is like comparing apples to oranges. The older elementary buildings have smaller classrooms. The rooms at East are smaller than the rooms at Pioneer Trails. He'd like to assess the capacity at each building with updated enrollment numbers while comparing the physical size of the classrooms. It'll help determine where they should build another elementary school.
They all said they wanted updated figures on enrollment and construction costs.
Murray said she'd also like to see the board complete a needs assessment. In 2015, the board decided it was one of the next steps, but has yet to create one.
Curriculum could be part of the needs assessment, she said. Curriculum and special programs could impact where the district decides to build.
"If you're going to do something fancy, then that impacts space," she said. "Behavior is an example. If you're moving students out of existing schools to address behavior, then you should include that on the needs assessment. Geographically, we're a big district. If you're talking about moving kids to one place for a specific program, that has a huge impact on transportation and operation costs. That's why it's important to have an open-ended needs assessment."
They also agreed they wanted input from the community.
Theroff suggested a public survey to narrow the focus and determine what the community will support.
"We want to get all the feedback and input and advice we can," Theroff said. "We'll never come up with a complete 100 percent consensus of what the best option is, but hopefully we'll get a good idea. There's two components to that. We want to know what they think, and we want to know what they'll support."
"Before we talk about a bond issue, we've got to have a clear plan on what to do and where to do it and what we need," Couty said. "We've also got to educate the community on those needs and bring the community along with us."