Johnston School Board Recommends Pursuing New High School

Johnston school officials agreed Monday night to explore building a $75 million high school and re-purpose several buildings to better accommodate rapid enrollment.

The district has gained roughly 2,000 students during the past decade.

Superintendent Clay Guthmiller reported the district was proceeding with a recommendation made Sept. 28 to study whether to build a new 10th- to 12th-grade building.

"We're moving forward under the premise there was general agreement to spend time on specifics if it's feasible," he said.

Scott Syroka, a Johnston High School student council member, said he trusts the board's recommendations.

"I have full confidence in our district administrative team and school board as a whole to enact a facilities plan that will aid in increasing student achievement," Syroka said.

Guthmiller said the district will study whether a new high school and changes to three other buildings will accommodate Johnston's growing enrollment.

The recommendation included:

• Building a new high school housing grades 10-12 at an estimated cost of $75 million,
• Remodeling the existing high school to house grades 8-9,
• Remodeling Johnston Middle School to house students currently at Wallace Elementary School at an estimated cost of $2.5 million,
• Re-purposing Wallace Elementary to potentially house the school’s administrative office, preschool students, or an alternative school.

The figures given were rough estimates, Guthmiller said. The district would likely have to ask voters to approve a bond measure to pay for the project. No timeline has been set for a bond vote or the opening of a new high school.

Part of the study hinges on a finalized enrollment count for this school year, which is expected at the end of the month.

"It probably won't go up half of what we thought," Guthmiller said. "The numbers have slowed down."

Growth could be as low as a gain of 57 students. A number that low would be the lowest growth the district has seen in nearly 25 years, he said.

In the 2010-11 school year, enrollment in the Johnston school district increased by 139 students to 6,101 students from the previous year. From the 2000-01 school year to the 2010-11 school year enrollment grew by nearly 1,000 students every five years. In the 2000-01 school year Johnston's enrollment was 4,128 students.

During the board's Sept. 28 work session, Guthmiller said the proposal guarantees all students will benefit from the new construction and that the option will be the least disruptive to them.

Board member Greg Dockum said there many positive things about Guthmiller's recommendation.

"One of the positives is it incorporates the wishes of the previous committees in the last 18 months," he said. "We still want to get the community buying in on the recommendation. I think that's a great start."

Guthmiller plans to meet with the Johnston City Council on Oct. 17 to discuss the district's tentative construction plan.

Several community meetings will follow, including the creation of a Futures Team to help shape the district's strategic plan for the next five years. Made up of 100 stakeholders in the district, the team will meet from 3 to 9 p.m. Nov. 9. District residents interested in joining the team should call Cindy Taylor at 278-0470.