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N. Branch School Board leaning toward leasing, split shift plansBy Barbara Brown The North Branch school board is leaning toward a plan for leasing classroom space and possibly integrating some split shift scheduling for the coming school year. The board held a wrap-up work session Feb. 5 in the North Branch High School auditorium to discuss four plans for pulling the districtís schools out of a space shortage for the coming few years. The school system has found itself in a bind for the coming year, with the schools severely over-crowded. A referendum to allow residents to be taxed to pay for a new school building failed two times in 2001. About 100 residents have banded together to form Support Our Schools to bring back a building bond referendum to the voters. Representatives are planning to present a petition to the school board at the boardís April meeting. In the meantime, electronic mail and word of mouth are spreading through the organization members and their friends to gather support for a new referendum. Board member Donna Setter said the board was willing to look at the option of referendum, but she said she cannot get her hopes up after they had been dashed twice last year. She said the board would have to work with the four options it has before it to house students. Classes in the Primary, Main Street and Middle schools are being taught in whatever spaces the instructors can find, including unused locker rooms, hallways and closets. The school board must now decided how it will schedule childrens schooling for the coming few school years. In order to address immediate needs, but do little else to relieve classroom pressures, the district needs to find five classrooms. In order to reduce class sizes and make sure there is room for all teachers to have a classroom, the district needs up to 25 classrooms. The options the board had been given were: do nothing, lease rooms, split shifts or year-round school. The board quickly passed over year-round school as an option because the more than $5 million initial investment required, mostly for installing air conditioning, was too much for the districtís budgets to handle. The board spent the majority of its time discussing leasing portables. While portables would relieve pressure on the classroom settings, the schoolsí gyms, cafeterias and restrooms still would be strained. For portables, a 2,000 square-foot, two classroom option would cost about $150,560 for the first year and $23,160 for the following years. A five classroom portable option would cost about $302,580 for the first year and about $38,000 for the ensuing years. Restrooms can be made available by using a classroom space for bathrooms. To pay for leasing, the school board can levy up to $450,000 in property taxes for the coming year, according to finance director Randi Johnson. Split shifts would require more funding for transportation and utilities. It also would require re-arranging of family schedules, especially in families in which the children attend different schools. The board asked for more specific information on exactly how many classrooms the schools will need to see them through the next few school years. It also wants to know more about the cost to install the portables and have them hooked up to utilities. The board is expected to make a decision on which option, or combination of options, it will use for the coming school year at its March meeting. ©ECM Post Review |