Four potential solutions to address overcrowding in existing K-8 buildings would construct new buildings to address space issues in the Jefferson City School District.
But only one of the plans considered by a district-formed focus group offers the promise of addressing space needs for kindergarteners, elementary school students and middle school students, according to a report from the group.
The district's facility focus group, which began meeting in the spring, identified four main options to address overcrowding. They were: adding elementary schools, adding a middle school, building two kindergarten through first-grade buildings, and building two fifth- and sixth-grade buildings.
Superintendent Larry Linthacum created the facility focus group to "informally bring together a variety of individuals with different perspectives (parents, community members, staff members, etc.) to review the current state of our schools and provide feedback on their thoughts regarding how to address overcrowding," JC Schools Director of Communication Ryan Burns previously told the News Tribune.
The committee included JC Schools staff: Linthacum; Paula Hotz, teacher and parent; Kate Leary, teacher; and Joni Henderson, teacher. School board members on the committee were Steve Bruce and Lori Massman.
Members from the public were: Rich Aubuchon, parent and former board member; Brad Bates, parent who has since announced his intention to run for school board; Julie Burcham, parent and business owner; Ashley French, business owner; Kim Hardin, parent; Debra Kaiser, retired teacher and grandparent; Brian Mutert, parent; Ashley Pederson, business owner; and Matt Tollerton, community member.
The group is supported by JC Schools staff: Hoffman, Director of Quality Improvement Brenda Hatfield; Director of Elementary Education Lorie Rost; Chief of Learning Brian Shindorf; Frank Underwood, director of facilities and transportation and safety and security coordinator; and Director of Secondary Education Gary Verslues.
Throughout the nine meetings of the committee, members worked through pros and cons of each option, which evolved into a final presentation that was shown at the Board of Education's November and December meetings, Hatfield said.
District officials have said the 21-member group considers the fifth- and sixth-grade building plan the most favored after reviewing feedback from teachers, parents and students.
The district announced last week it will hold two town hall meetings to discuss building two fifth- and sixth-grade centers.
The first meeting is scheduled 6-8 p.m. Jan. 8 at West Elementary, 100 Dix Road. The second meeting will be 6-8 p.m. Jan. 9 at East Elementary School, 1229 E. McCarty St.
Fifth- and sixth-grade centers
The plan to build two fifth- and sixth-grade centers on district-owned land near Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark middle schools is the favorite of the facility group, Hoffman previously said.
The committee found the intermediate centers would increase space in the elementary and middle school buildings, allow the district to expand preschool in the future and come at no tax increase, Hoffman said.
The option would move about 80 students from the district's 11 elementary schools and 400 students from the two middle schools, clearing out about four classrooms per elementary building and 15 per middle school, according to the committee's presentation.
The committee report said the intermediate centers would also:
Limit the influence of seventh- and eighth-graders on younger students.
Offer close teacher coordination for fifth through eighth grades.
Create a lasting solution to overcrowding in K-8 classrooms.
The committee also considered pros and cons of making the elementary buildings K-4 if the fifth- and sixth-grade buildings are added.
Those buildings would be able to eliminate some trailer use, allow space for ancillary services, reduce the number of lunch shifts and more. Cons included moving the students to another building at an earlier age out of neighborhood schools and disrupting teacher teams.
Cited disadvantages to the intermediate centers included adding an extra transition and longer bus rides at an earlier age; building administration, support staff, operating and utility cost; and an extra pickup stop for parents.
The intermediate center option has the fewest disadvantages, committee member Ashley French said Wednesday.
"The other options had enough drawbacks that the fifth- and sixth-grade centers were clear winners," she said.
K-1 centers
Building two kindergarten and first-grade centers would offer the district the same solution to address space needs. With no tax increase, the district could expand preschool and create space in the elementary and middle school buildings.
Under the plan, elementary buildings would move to second through sixth grade, and middle schools would house seventh and eighth grade.
The option, however, moves a transition at an even earlier age, which the committee opposed, French said.
"K-1 buildings had a lot of the same benefits as the fifth- and sixth-grade buildings, but it requires transporting the youngest of children far away from their home on longer bus rides so that they're not in their neighborhood schools," French said. "I don't think that we want to take K-1 and start a busing system with them that doesn't seem to have the most direct benefit."
Additional middle school
Adding another sixth- through eighth-grade middle school would solve middle school space needs but not elementary space needs, the report said.
It would not help the district expand preschool services, and it would come at a tax increase of 12 cents per building, Hoffman said.
The solution would not remove enough students from buildings to decrease the amount of staff, Hoffman told the JC Schools Board of Education on Monday.
"You would probably reduce some of your middle school staff, but you'd really be moving a few students out of each," Hoffman said. "So we would still have to add more staff at the middle school level."
The district has not done a detailed analysis of the cost of operating a third middle school, Hoffman told the News Tribune.
Additional elementary schools
Adding a 12th or 13th elementary school to the district would solve space issues in the elementary buildings and allow for expanding preschool in the future.
One elementary school could be added on the east side of town and another on the west side, with a capacity of 500 students each, according to the committee notes.
Adding the elementary buildings would not move enough students to reduce operating costs, Hoffman said.
"It's definitely cheaper to build elementary schools than middle schools, but where the increase (in cost) comes in is in the operating side," Hoffman previously said. "By adding a 12th and 13th elementary school in order to keep them all K-5, you're just moving a few students from every building, and it would just be reducing class sizes and not reducing the number of teachers. We would need to add teachers."
In 2014, the operating cost of adding one elementary school was more than $2 million, Hoffman said.
The district has not done a detailed analysis with updated numbers but expects they would be similar today, Hoffman said.
Other costs associated with this plan include $1.75 million in salaries, $180,000 in utilities, $120,000 for additional buses and $117,600 for tax revenue.
Also in 2014, the cost of building a second elementary school on the east side of Jefferson City would cost more than $13.7 million, according to committee notes.
Another con to the additional elementary buildings is they would not address middle school space needs, the report said.