The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (0) Comments
District wants feedback on options
Published 11/13/2007 in News : Education By Emily Behlmann
The USD 457 Board of Education has the educational research and preliminary cost estimates to help members weigh their options for dealing with a crowded high school -- a second high school or a new, larger one.
But board members said at their meeting Monday night that they were missing a key piece of information -- how the community feels about the issue.
Residents are likely to see a bond issue on the ballot, possibly in November 2008, for one of the two high school plans. Both were recommended by a community committee that studied 10 options for handling what administrators say is an overcrowded school with some inadequate facilities.
To provide an answer, the board gave administrators the nod Monday to investigate hiring a consultant who would conduct a survey of residents.
"We have to survey, survey, survey before I'll feel comfortable really knowing what the community wants," board member Gail Dunford said.
Superintendent Rick Atha said a community phone survey could get a general pulse of the public on questions like whether they think GCHS is too crowded, whether they prefer one high school or two, and how much of a tax increase they could withstand.
USD 437 Auburn Washburn found such surveys to be helpful with its recent successful bond issue, said USD 457 Financial Officer Kathleen Whitley, who contacted the district. The district worked with Desieghardt Strategic Communications and paid $11,900 for a survey conducted at several meetings and $5,750 for a phone survey, she said.
The board already has seen several surveys regarding high school facilities:
n A survey administered at parent/teacher conferences showed building a second high school as the first choice for 1,106 respondents, while 418 favored building one new high school and 380 favored moving ninth-graders to the middle schools to alleviate high school crowding. The survey elicited 3,300 responses, but parents were encouraged to fill out a survey for every child they have at USD 457.
n A staff survey, with 364 responses, didn't point to a single choice. About 17 percent each favored a single new high school and adding on to the existing building, and 16 percent preferred a second high school.
n Among the 1,103 students surveyed, 376 preferred adding on to GCHS, while 278 favored a building for only ninth-graders, 266 preferred a second high school and 183 picked a single new high school.
n On a written community survey with 51 responses, a second high school came out on top with 17 supporters. Ten preferred adding on to GCHS, and seven favored a ninth-grade center.
However, board members said they were disappointed by how few citizens responded to the community survey, and that none of the surveys reflected whether respondents were registered voters. More information was needed, they said.
But board Vice President John Scheopner cautioned against relying too heavily on survey data. He said that in 1998, surveys indicated that at least 65 percent of the public favored a bond issue for a second high school in Garden City. On election day, about 65 percent of voters rejected the bond issue.
The board's views of community perceptions showed up Monday on both "pro" and "con" lists for the two high school ideas.
For instance, a "con" of building a high school would be that it's a concept voters twice have rejected, with bond issues in 1998 and 2000. At the time, bond issue opponents cited concerns including a potential division in the community and a likely increase in operating costs -- even if a smaller building cost less than replacing the entire high school.
As for operating costs, Deputy Superintendent Steve Karlin said most high school staff would be split among the two schools, but he estimated the district would have to hire 17 additional staff to run a second high school -- four teachers, one counselor, one librarian, one administrator, two secretaries, three custodians and five cooks.
Another additional cost would be for activities. Whitley estimated that increase at about $625,000.
However, a "con" to one big high school, according to board member Bruce Reichmuth, was that some people considering a move to Garden City might be deterred by the large school, fearing their children would get lost or would miss out on individual attention.
With either option, the board has said it also would have to deal with other facility concerns, like crowding at middle schools and inadequate space for accomplishing a board goal of significantly lowering class sizes district-wide.
Found 0 comment(s)!
Twitter Updates
