The Blair Oaks R-2 Board of Education did not make any decisions about a new high school for the district Tuesday, but architects are meeting with stakeholders to determine what exactly is needed in a new building, which will lead to more precise estimates of square footage and cost ahead of when the board has to officially decide whether it will ask voters to approve the project.
The board voted in August to increase the district's debt service levy by 30 cents from $0.91 to $1.21 - a measure that was taken to save money in interest payments on the cost of a new high school, increase the district's bonding capacity and to make it possible for the district to present voters in April 2019 with a no-tax-increase bond issue question on the ballot to pay for a new high school.
The final decision for whether a new high school will be on the April ballot will be officially decided in January, when the ballot is certified.
The Architects Alliance met with the board Tuesday night to preview the work that will likely be done before the board's decision in January.
"Architects Alliance's job to do right now is to provide this body with the information they need to make an informed decision about the potential of putting a bond issue on the ballot in April 2019," Superintendent Jim Jones said.
"We kind of know how the building will lay on the site. We know the general parts of pieces of it. The next step for us is to get into architectural programming" - interviews with staff and faculty, "anybody you want us to talk with" about what their needs are from the building, Architects Alliance's Principal Architect Cary Gampher said.
Gampher explained square footage of the building will be calculated to accommodate that input from the people who will use it, and an estimate of square footage will generate a budget for the board to have when it makes its decision in January.
The Architects Alliance's Intern Architect and Project Manager Leslie Backstrom said interviews with staff have already been happening. Backstrom said architects met with 14 groups last Friday - including math, science, language arts, social studies, choir, band, art, special education and P.E. teachers - to ask "what is your space used for, what kind of furniture needs, what kind of support spaces, storage needs, those kinds of things."
She showed the board an example of feedback from business computer classes, that would like features including a broadcasting studio with a green screen and shared storage space between classrooms.
Gampher said that tour of other buildings will be next month, for board members to get ideas of features and what they cost.
He also recommended a geotechnical survey be approved by early November - if the board wants to do one before the April election - so as to have as much information available about the site as possible, to avoid any potential costly surprises later.
Jones said he wants to do some cost research first, but said it would be easy for the board to meet to approve a survey in time for its findings to be shared with Architects Alliance to incorporate into its presentations - including a conceptual floor plan - before January.