The Garden City Telegram
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Bond issue committee forming
Published 6/16/2008 in None : Area coverage
By EMILY BEHLMANN
ebehlmann@gctelegram.com
The countdown to November has begun.
In preparation for a Nov. 4 bond issue election that would allow USD 457 to carry out its long-range facility plan, the school district is forming a community support committee that will have its first meeting Tuesday night.
The evening will include a presentation by Superintendent Rick Atha on the overall facility plan, plus discussions with the project's architects on progress so far for building plans and advice for running a bond issue election, Atha said. The board has hired architects DLR Group of Overland Park and Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael & Nelson of Garden City.
According to USD 457 spokesman Roy Cessna, the charge of the committee that will meet Tuesday will be to provide citizens with "pertinent information regarding the district's long-range facility plan."
That plan would include construction of a new high school to replace the current Garden City High School.
The Board of Education has said it intends for the new school to have capacity for 2,250 students, with the possibility for expansion to 2,500. The current building has been deemed overcrowded, with a capacity for 1,500, though there are about 1,900 students attending.
The facility plan also includes conversion of the main GCHS building into a middle school, mostly to house Abe Hubert Middle School staff and students.
Abe Hubert then would be converted to an elementary school, mostly for those now at Garfield Elementary School.
Garfield would be made into an early childhood center, centralizing early childhood programs in one building instead of leaving them spread among several elementary schools.
Cessna said J.D. Adams Hall, which sits adjacent to the main GCHS building, likely would house the New Outlook Academy alternative high school and the Therapeutic Education Program, a special education school for students who struggle in a traditional classroom.
Atha said the district sent out 60 letters to potential members of the community support committee, and he hopes to see many of the letters' recipients at Tuesday's meeting. Some district employees and board members also will be present.
The district sent letters to some citizens who have worked on previous bond issue committees, those who participated in preliminary discussions that resulted in the long-range facility plan and others in the community who have expressed support to the district for the bond issue, Cessna said.
Atha said he expects tentative building plans to be approved by the end of July, so the support committees can start in August or September to distribute information about the cost of the bond issue, plus the proposed design and location of the new high school.
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