The Garden City Telegram
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Long work ahead for committee
Published 6/18/2008 in News : Area coverage
By EMILY BEHLMANN
ebehlmann@gctelegram.com
According to John Fuller, a principal at DLR Group architects who has worked on many school district bond issues, about 20 percent of people in a community typically vote "no" on an issue, regardless of what supporters do or say.
About 20 percent typically vote "yes," no matter what, he said.
That leaves 60 percent of voters as the target audience for a bond issue campaign like the one USD 457 kicked off with a meeting Tuesday night.
The gathering included school board members; district and high school administrators; architects from the hired firms DLR Group of Overland Park and Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael and Nelson of Garden City; and 11 community members not affiliated with the district.
The meeting was the start of a process that Fuller said should "crescendo" as it leads up to the Nov. 4 vote on a bond issue that would allow the district to carry out the school board's long-range facility plan, devised largely to address overcrowding concerns.
The plan includes construction of a new, larger high school to replace the current one, conversion of the current GCHS building into a middle school, conversion of Abe Hubert Middle School into an elementary school and conversion of Garfield Elementary School into a centralized early-childhood center.
The strategy
The No. 1 factor that can kill a bond issue's chances of success is voter apathy -- especially from parents, according to Fuller.
"A campaign structure should focus on making sure parents are informed," he said. "If we don't get 70 percent (of parents) to show up and vote, we're wasting our time."
Some Garden City residents at the meeting, however, cited other challenges, like citizens' concerns in a tough economy and the difficulty of communicating district needs in a multi-lingual community.
"I think people don't want to pay more taxes," said Jennifer Doll, a parent of four who said she agreed to help with the campaign because she thinks the community needs improved facilities.
Fuller recommended a two-prong approach with a heavy focus on getting out consistent information to various targeted groups of voters.
The first prong would be the "fact-based effort," with work done primarily by school district employees and the school board. Law prohibits them from advocating a "yes" or "no" vote, but they can and should educate people about the issue with information about the cost of the project, the results of passage or failure, and the process for voter registration, he said.
Teachers and bus drivers generally are trusted and have a lot of parental contact, so they could be especially effective in communicating with parents, Fuller said.
"We're not going to promote or sell a bond issue," he said. "We have to educate."
The second prong would be the "promotional effort," carried out by community volunteers. They would rely on the same factual information, but could use emotional appeal and distribute "vote yes" materials paid for by money they raise themselves, he said.
Design matters
Before the campaign can really get under way, however, the district has to work out details like the basic design of the projects, cost and the location of a new high school.
Architects are now in the middle of creating a floor plan for the proposed new high school, and they have been meeting with various staff members and students to determine needs for the building, said Jim French, one of the DLR Group architects.
The board has recommended a high school with the capacity for 2,250 students, with room for expansion into a 2,500-student school. Currently, GCHS can house comfortably about 1,500 people, administrators say, and enrollment is about 1,900.
French said that on the advice of USD 457 staff, planners are designing the school for "small learning communities" that break students into groups to "personalize the experience of kids to instructors and administrators." The design also will incorporate modern technological needs and space for hands-on learning, he said.
Design has an effect on education, French said, citing studies like a 2001 report by the California Energy Commission that showed exposure to daylight in classrooms can improve test scores by up to 26 percent.
If the bond is successful, architects will be paid a quarter-percent of construction costs for work done before the election and 5.75 percent of construction costs for work after the vote, Superintendent Rick Atha said. If it fails, they will be paid for their expenses, he said.
Atha said he expects a proposed floor plan will be presented to the board on Aug. 4, and that specifics will be approved shortly after.
The community committee expects to re-assemble at the end of July, and they will begin distributing information to the public in August or September.
If the campaign is successful, a tentative timeline French laid out showed that construction bids would be taken in about January of 2010, with construction finished in the spring of 2012.
Force behind the effort
Atha said he had been hoping more community volunteers would attend the meeting -- maybe 30 of the 60 who were contacted by both phone and mailed letters. Those contacted included citizens who have worked on previous bond issue committees or the research process leading up to this one, plus some other parents or community leaders.
He cited a problem with a mailing as one possible reason for the turnout, as most potential volunteers didn't receive their letters until the day of the meeting, and said he expects greater participation when details are firmer and specific jobs are outlined.
For a community the size of Garden City, Fuller recommended that the two groups together add up to a force of about 100 to 120 people.
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