The Jefferson City School District anticipates bringing a bond issue to the school board and voters in spring 2022 to address overcrowding in grades K-8, and district leaders are exploring several options.
The district's K-8 buildings have been overcrowded since 2014, and 11 out of 15 schools have trailers. The district is developing a long-range facilities plan that will align with a plan to address the overcrowding.
The options include two fifth- and sixth-grade centers - which the district previously considered putting on the April 2020 ballot - two fifth- through eighth-grade centers or another elementary school and middle school, Superintendent Larry Linthacum said.
Linthacum said he still believes a fifth- and sixth-grade center is a valid solution that fits the district's needs, but he wants to explore all options to ensure the best solution.
"I think we have an obligation to explore each of these with fidelity," Linthacum said.
The district's facilities focus group will continue to explore options, and stakeholders will have opportunities to share their opinions, Linthacum said.
Construction is expected to be complete by fall 2024, he said.
Linthacum will give an overview of the timeline at Monday's school board meeting, but it is not yet finalized, he said. He plans to present a finalized 15-month timeline at the Feb. 8 board meeting then give monthly updates.
The district can borrow $80 million for new buildings without raising the tax rate, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Jason Hoffman said. However, adding another elementary and middle school would likely raise the tax rate because the district would need to hire more staff, Linthacum said.
"Our No. 1 investment as a district is our salaries of our staff," Linthacum said.
With the fifth- and sixth-grade center or fifth- through eighth-grade center options, the district would not need to hire staff because current teachers would move into the new buildings.
If the district added another elementary school, it would also have to redraw boundary lines for all schools in the district.
"That is one of the challenges with that, but also, you weigh the pros and cons. You do what's right for the long-term solution," Linthacum said.
The district had originally planned to decide on a solution before beginning this school year and ask voters for approval this spring, but the process was paused to allow district leaders to develop a plan to safely reopen school during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Last January, the district held town-hall meetings to present the plan to propose a bond issue for two fifth- and sixth-grade centers, after which the district paused the decision to put a bond issue on the April 2020 ballot.
"We were still at the early stages, and we really weren't ready to go to the voters, we didn't believe, and so we want to make sure we do this right," Linthacum said.
This week, the district will begin reviewing the original fifth- and sixth-grade center plan, Linthacum said. For example, if prices have increased, the cost could be different.
The original plan was to add two fifth- and sixth-grade buildings on district-owned land near Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark middle schools. The school near Lewis and Clark would be built near East McCarty Street, north of the middle school. The school near Thomas Jefferson would be built on land behind that school with roads put in to access it off Fairgrounds Road.
The plan was for each 140,000-square-foot building to have two floors with 20 classrooms. It would cost $65 million for both, and each could serve 800 students (1,600 total). The district currently has about 1,200 students in grades 5 and 6.
About 80 students would have moved 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 report.
The facilities focus group had found the fifth- and sixth-grade centers would increase space in the elementary and middle school buildings, allow the district to expand preschool in the future and come with no tax increase. Administrative, utility and support staff costs were going to be covered by the district's existing operating levy.
"If we did go that option, obviously, there will be some parts to it that will be consistent, but potentially, there may be some tweaks or changes, and we'll determine that in the coming months," Linthacum said.
Linthacum said he's excited about the opportunities that will come with adding new buildings to the district.
"We want to make sure that our kids graduate, and obviously the facilities in our schools are a big part of that," he said. "If we can address K-8, it can help us become premier and help make this world a better place through our schools."