Are Jefferson City High School and Simonsen bursting at the seams?

Representatives of 'Citizens' group cite long-due need for second high school

Students exit Simonsen 9th Grade Center in 2016 at the end of the school day.
Students exit Simonsen 9th Grade Center in 2016 at the end of the school day.

Proponents of the Jefferson City School District's two high school plan say the current high school buildings are overcrowded, and a bigger student population on the horizon will worsen the problem. Opponents counter that the district's enrollment numbers aren't unprecedented.

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William Harrison

School district officials and other proponents have said the size of the incoming class at Simonsen 9th Grade Center in fall 2019 will force students into classroom trailers on Major Field. The enrollment of this year's sixth-grade class who will be those ninth-graders currently numbers 713 as of Dec. 21. This year's kindergarten, first-, second- and fourth-grade classes also each number more than 700 students.

A class of more than 700 students is not new at Simonsen. So, if class sizes like these aren't unprecedented, why do voters have to make a decision now in the April 4 election?

The short answer is "the need is not new," and it's only now that "we're finally starting to act," said Stephanie Johnson, co-chairwoman of Citizens Investing in J Plus C, a group of private citizens campaigning in support of the April 4 ballot issues. She is also executive director of the local Boys & Girls Club.

Proposition J will ask voters if they want to approve a 65-cent tax levy increase to fund a $130 million bond issue to build a second high school and renovate the existing one to make it an equitable facility in terms of square footage, design and safety. Proposition J requires a 57 percent approval vote in order to pass.

Proposition C will ask voters if they want to approve a 45-cent operating levy - 25 cents to cover the operating costs of a second high school and 20 cents to cover needs within the existing school system. Proposition C requires a simple majority vote in order to pass. If the levy passes but the bond issue does not, the district will only collect the 20 cents for existing needs like purchasing a new textbook series and expanding mental health support.

Johnson graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1989, and she said it was crowded then. She said a second high school has been needed for decades, but the district has always had other needs on the elementary and middle school levels that had to be addressed.

Moving the district's ninth-graders to Simonsen was meant to be a temporary solution, never a permanent fix, said Dan Westhues, another co-chairman of Citizens Investing in J Plus C. Westhues is also senior vice president and director of marketing and retail banking at Central Bank.

Based on its capacity of 632 students, determined by ACI Boland Architects, Simonsen has been at or over capacity every school year since and including 1993-94, except for two - 2002-03 and 2008-09 - according to enrollment data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

With a capacity of 1,878 students, Jefferson City High School has been at or over capacity for 15 of the past 23 years. The only time between 1993-94 and last school year that enrollment at the high school dipped below 1,800 was last year, 2015-16.

There's more to the situation than the high school being overcrowded for decades.

Classes are taught in a "2017 way in a building built in the '60s," Johnson said.

JCHS was built in 1964. Simonsen was built in 1926.

Teaching needs have changed over the years to focus more on individualized environments and project-based learning, Johnson and Westhues said.

Westhues said low- to moderate-income and at-risk students especially need smaller classroom environments to stay engaged in their learning.

Johnson said she will vote to pay more in her taxes to have "an even playing field" for everyone in the community. She said it's less expensive to invest in the community now than to pay later for the outcomes of a low-quality public education for JCPS graduates.

If both ballot issues are approved, a Jefferson City family who currently owns a $150,000 home would pay about $25 more a month or $300 more a year in property taxes. Taxes on commercial property and personal property like cars, trucks, motorcycles and boats would increase, too.

Though Johnson and Westhues said the school district has done the best it could with the resources it's had, "it's been time for 30 years" to build a second high school, Johnson said.