Silver Lake School May Stay Open After All
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Silver Lake residents may be able to keep their elementary school open - but they may have to keep it as it is, with no major renovations.
That was one of the suggestions the Warsaw school board will consider in the next two months as part of their proposed building project.
At Monday's meeting, board president Craig Allebach presented his summary of the board consensus on the proposed projects. Included in that summary was the statement that it was the consensus of the board to: build a new school in Prairie Township to replace Atwood Elementary; build a weight and wrestling room, auditorium and performing arts center and outdoor physical development facilities at Warsaw Community High School; and keep Silver Lake Elementary "open and in good working condition until such time as facility needs or financial constraints require that the issue be re-examined."
When asked if the reference to Silver Lake Elementary meant not spending any money on the school other than regular annual maintenance, Allebach said, "Correct."
Lisa McCoy, of the Save Our School committee in Silver Lake, asked the board if that meant they will reconsider the Silver Lake issue in the future.
"If you wait until 2004 or 2006, we will be looking at what should we do with Silver Lake again, and we don't want to go through that again," she said. "We know that the school is worth saving but we also know there are some things that need to be done."
Allebach responded: "We're not going to neglect Silver Lake but you won't see large amounts of money more than we have done in the past. You won't see anything more done at Silver Lake other than what's already in the budget for 2002."
(The 2002 budget allocates $25,900 for Silver Lake Elementary, which includes $3,000 for building and grounds upgrades; $9,700 for instructional, custodial and office equipment and furniture; $11,200 for computers and related equipment; and $2,000 for maintenance. The budget also proposes $30,000 in 2003 and $323,000 in 2004 for interior remodeling and improvements.)
Board member Brad Brail said just because renovation was not specifically mentioned in Allebach's statement did not mean the board had decided not to renovate the school.
The question before the board, he said, was whether or not to close Silver Lake Elementary. "The question before the board was never to renovate Silver Lake School, it was to close Silver Lake School. ... The name of the committee is 'Save Our School,' not 'Renovate Silver Lake School.'
"The decision the board is thinking of in March is not a decision not to renovate Silver Lake, it's not to close Silver Lake. Where pubic discussion goes from here is how to pursue educational equity. It would be a mistake to walk away assuming the board has made a decision not to renovate. The board is thinking of not borrowing large sums to renovate."
An approximately $30-million bond issue would be initiated to finance the proposed building projects, along with annual cash allocations from the Warsaw Community Schools' Capital Projects Fund.
The board previously considered building the high school's auditorium and performing arts center separately, with the performing arts center financed solely through donations from the community. However, in Allebach's statement Monday, the performing arts center would be built at the same time as the auditorium, and it would be financed through the bond issue.
Allebach suggested, based on a previous recommendation by Brail, that a specific amount be set aside annually in the Capital Projects Fund to address "educational equity" in the elementary schools.
He also said there is a consensus to build an addition on to the administration building to house the technology department. The estimated construction cost for that addition, $500,000, was budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund for 2002.
Allebach said next month the board will entertain a formal resolution on the proposed projects and they will vote on the projects at the March meeting.
Brail proposed the board include a facilities review and a redistricting study. Allebach said those will be separate issues not included in the building program being discussed, and WCS superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said a facilities review is necessary for objective criteria on which to base educational equity.
In other business, the board:
• Approved Greg Schroeder, WCS director of buildings and grounds, to advertise for bids for the first phase of replacing the air conditioning equipment at Lakeview Middle School. Harman later said he estimates that cost to be around $900,000. If advertising for bids begins later this month, construction on the air conditioning could begin after school dismisses for the summer, and could be done before the next school year starts.
• Heard a report from Jim Elizondo of City Securities about what a bond issue would entail. Elizondo said payments on a $30-million bond would not increase property taxes since they would simply replace the bond that will be paid off this year for Eisenhower and Harrison elementaries.
• Heard from Harman that enrollment as of Monday in all Warsaw schools was 6,350, up from 6,279 at the same time last year.
The board's February meeting has been moved to Feb. 25 because of President's Day. The board will continue to meet at 7 p.m. at Edgewood Middle School.
Board members are: Craig Allebach, president; Brad Brail, Larry Chamberlain, Cathy Folk, Jim Folk, Charles Sauders and Roy Szymanski. [[In-content Ad]]
Silver Lake residents may be able to keep their elementary school open - but they may have to keep it as it is, with no major renovations.
That was one of the suggestions the Warsaw school board will consider in the next two months as part of their proposed building project.
At Monday's meeting, board president Craig Allebach presented his summary of the board consensus on the proposed projects. Included in that summary was the statement that it was the consensus of the board to: build a new school in Prairie Township to replace Atwood Elementary; build a weight and wrestling room, auditorium and performing arts center and outdoor physical development facilities at Warsaw Community High School; and keep Silver Lake Elementary "open and in good working condition until such time as facility needs or financial constraints require that the issue be re-examined."
When asked if the reference to Silver Lake Elementary meant not spending any money on the school other than regular annual maintenance, Allebach said, "Correct."
Lisa McCoy, of the Save Our School committee in Silver Lake, asked the board if that meant they will reconsider the Silver Lake issue in the future.
"If you wait until 2004 or 2006, we will be looking at what should we do with Silver Lake again, and we don't want to go through that again," she said. "We know that the school is worth saving but we also know there are some things that need to be done."
Allebach responded: "We're not going to neglect Silver Lake but you won't see large amounts of money more than we have done in the past. You won't see anything more done at Silver Lake other than what's already in the budget for 2002."
(The 2002 budget allocates $25,900 for Silver Lake Elementary, which includes $3,000 for building and grounds upgrades; $9,700 for instructional, custodial and office equipment and furniture; $11,200 for computers and related equipment; and $2,000 for maintenance. The budget also proposes $30,000 in 2003 and $323,000 in 2004 for interior remodeling and improvements.)
Board member Brad Brail said just because renovation was not specifically mentioned in Allebach's statement did not mean the board had decided not to renovate the school.
The question before the board, he said, was whether or not to close Silver Lake Elementary. "The question before the board was never to renovate Silver Lake School, it was to close Silver Lake School. ... The name of the committee is 'Save Our School,' not 'Renovate Silver Lake School.'
"The decision the board is thinking of in March is not a decision not to renovate Silver Lake, it's not to close Silver Lake. Where pubic discussion goes from here is how to pursue educational equity. It would be a mistake to walk away assuming the board has made a decision not to renovate. The board is thinking of not borrowing large sums to renovate."
An approximately $30-million bond issue would be initiated to finance the proposed building projects, along with annual cash allocations from the Warsaw Community Schools' Capital Projects Fund.
The board previously considered building the high school's auditorium and performing arts center separately, with the performing arts center financed solely through donations from the community. However, in Allebach's statement Monday, the performing arts center would be built at the same time as the auditorium, and it would be financed through the bond issue.
Allebach suggested, based on a previous recommendation by Brail, that a specific amount be set aside annually in the Capital Projects Fund to address "educational equity" in the elementary schools.
He also said there is a consensus to build an addition on to the administration building to house the technology department. The estimated construction cost for that addition, $500,000, was budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund for 2002.
Allebach said next month the board will entertain a formal resolution on the proposed projects and they will vote on the projects at the March meeting.
Brail proposed the board include a facilities review and a redistricting study. Allebach said those will be separate issues not included in the building program being discussed, and WCS superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said a facilities review is necessary for objective criteria on which to base educational equity.
In other business, the board:
• Approved Greg Schroeder, WCS director of buildings and grounds, to advertise for bids for the first phase of replacing the air conditioning equipment at Lakeview Middle School. Harman later said he estimates that cost to be around $900,000. If advertising for bids begins later this month, construction on the air conditioning could begin after school dismisses for the summer, and could be done before the next school year starts.
• Heard a report from Jim Elizondo of City Securities about what a bond issue would entail. Elizondo said payments on a $30-million bond would not increase property taxes since they would simply replace the bond that will be paid off this year for Eisenhower and Harrison elementaries.
• Heard from Harman that enrollment as of Monday in all Warsaw schools was 6,350, up from 6,279 at the same time last year.
The board's February meeting has been moved to Feb. 25 because of President's Day. The board will continue to meet at 7 p.m. at Edgewood Middle School.
Board members are: Craig Allebach, president; Brad Brail, Larry Chamberlain, Cathy Folk, Jim Folk, Charles Sauders and Roy Szymanski. [[In-content Ad]]