Ames School Board Names Community Facilities Committee

A community facilities committee that would be charged with vetting the district's long-range facilities plan, was approved 5-1  members Monday night.

The committee will bring the board any suggested changes by Jan. 16.

This would help the board stay on its timeline for an April 2012 bond referendum to repair and replace the district's elementary schools.

What do you think of the board's current facilities plan and locations for elementary schools? Tell us in the comments.

Board member Bill Talbot did not attend the meeting.

Board member David Putz voted against the committee's approval because he said he wasn't in favor of the process. For one, he said, that board members should be the ones out in the community discussing the plan and some of the information they've asked the committee to look at, such as building operating costs, is now out of date.

Putz said he knows the committee is hardworking and “well intentioned, but I'm still really concerned about the timeline.”

The committee would bring any recommendations to the board just a few weeks before referendum language is adopted.

“This is the board's plan. We should be talking to the public,” Putz said.

The committee, to date, includes a list of 25 people. School administrators, board members and representatives of parent teacher organizations are all on the list.

Community members on the list include: Duane Reeves, the committee's chair, Dave Benson, Chris Brakke, Jake Elmquist, Eliz Erbes, Jeff Johnson, Carolyn Jons, Kevin Stowe, Daryl Vegge, Joni Ward and Chuck Winkleblack. The residents are spread throughout the community. Their addresses can be viewed on a map here or by clicking the map above.

Board President Dan Woodin said they wanted to get a recommendations on where facilities would be placed.

“That's the main intent with this group,” he said.

During the Nov. 21 school board meeting, members approved a draft long-range facilities plan that included building new schools on the and elementary school sites and replacing with a new school on Miller Avenue. Sawyer and Mitchell elementary schools would be renovated

The committee would be asked to focus on the elementary school portion of the plan and bring the board any suggested changes. The committee will meet for the first time on Thursday. All future committee meetings will be posted on the school board's website.