Gower School District To Discuss Facilities Improvements Tonight

Science rooms with lab space at and a renovated gym at Gower West Elementary could be in the works for . But first, district officials have to weigh whether or not such improvements are a priority—as well as financially feasible.

During a nearly hour-long discussion at the Sept. 20 school board meeting, Superintendent Steve Griesbach presented the board with a list of more than a dozen facility projects at the two schools. Griesbach said he wanted to get the board’s feedback on the proposed projects to determine if the district should pursue them further. Listed in priority order, projects are estimated to cost at least $8.4 million.

“But I don’t want to focus on the dollars right now, because we don’t have $8.4 million in the reserve,” he said. “But the more important question is, has the committee captured it, to your satisfaction, the things that will really enhance the learning of our students here against the safety of the students here... not just today, but down the road?”

The Facilities Committee, which includes board members, parents, staff and community members, has been meeting for the past six months to review district facilities. When the committee presented the board with a report on life safety issues in February, the board asked it to review district facilities on a wider scale, Griesbach said.

"Staff was surveyed for their feedback, then the committee took that information and conducted its own survey of the buildings," he said. "The result is a list of projects that are above and beyond the previously recommended $350,000 in life safety improvements."

At the top of the list, Griesbach said, is the creation of three science rooms at the middle school, which would include a separate space for lab work and classroom instruction.

“Science has been at the top of the list from the day it was brought up,” said Griesbach.

Also a priority at the middle school is the construction of a new gym on the east side of the school, with adequate storage space. An instructional sound system would be added to the existing gym, and existing locker rooms would be remodeled.

Gower Middle School Principal Rebecca Laratta said during the committee’s tours of the school it became clear that storage was an issue, as well as educational effectiveness of the physical education classrooms.

“While we’re making it work, there are students that have to sit out and kind of wait their turn because there’s not necessarily enough space to have all of them play at once,” Laratta said.

At Gower West, priority projects include renovating the existing gym and increasing the size of the Early Childhood classroom.

“I see this as a very, very nice wish list, but until we know what the funds are going to be, I don’t think we can start to say we want to do 1, 2 and 3 before we do 4,5 and 6,” said Board Secretary Young Ra-Hurka said. “I honestly can’t think about or even comment on what I think about the list until I know what the funding is going to be.”

Griesbach said given the district’s current fund balances, there is currently nothing on the list that could be done without pursuing funding for the projects.

“Traditionally in this district, that has involved us selling bonds,” he said.

Board Vice President Jennifer Planson had asked if the district should put the proposed projects out to the community for feedback.

“It’s going to be a referendum of some kind,” Planson said. “Are we just shooting blindly in the dark and we have no chance, or do you think it’s worth having an open dialogue of some kind, an open meeting to have a conversation?”

Griesbach said there has yet to be agreement reached by the board whether or not to even pursue the projects.

“We also haven’t talked about what it might cost and how we might pay for it,” he said.

Board members asked Griesbach to provide them at tonight's meeting with a prioritization of how urgent the projects are, information about how to fund the work and a timeline for the process. The board also will tour the schools before making any decisions.

“We’re trying to take it one step at a time. As they said in ‘What About Bob?’, baby steps,” Griesbach said.

Tonight's school board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the District office.