Superintendent Updates Warsaw School Board On Facilities Plan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
As early as October, Warsaw Community Schools was looking at a potential capital building campaign referendum in May 2014.
Hintz Tuesday also laid out the four main components of the building campaign WCS is considering.
He said the components the school district currently is focused on include a new Lincoln Elementary School, renovation of Edgewood Middle School, renovation and expansion of Washington STEM Academy, and improvements to the Warsaw Community High School/Warsaw Area Career Center building.
When he first joined the Warsaw School System 4-1/2 years ago, Hintz said WCS was well underway with an elementary building project. That project included new Madison and Leesburg schools and renovated Claypool and Jefferson schools.
He said those projects were what the community needed, and there was a lot of public meetings and support for those. That project did not increase taxes, Hintz said, and the community got a good return on its investment.
Eighteen months ago, Hintz reminded the board that he asked them to commission a long-range study of the entire school district.
On June 25, 2012, the board awarded Kovert Hawkins the bid for the facilities assessment for $74,000. Kovert Hawkins also was the architectural company behind the four new elementary schools.
On Sept. 11, 2012, Kovert Hawkins architects James Lake and Matthew D. Gullo presented their “vision” of what WCS needs to do and could do with its facilities to improve them. If all the suggestions were approved, the price tag would be approximately $110.6 million for construction plus soft costs of 30 percent.
Over the course of the past 18 months, Hintz said they continued to take a look at the facilities. The entire board has been looking at what the future could look like, he said, and he appreciated their efforts.
For any new buildings or renovations WCS wants, Hintz said it will require a referendum. Moving forward with any substantial building project, he also indicated that it will increase taxes.
The Warsaw School District is growing in the north. He said replacing Lincoln and expanding Washington may alleviate any need in the future of having to build a new school in the northern part of the district.
WCHS was built more than 20 years ago, Hintz said. It now has a student body of just under 2,200, and has some building issues that need addressed. He said there are many good students at the school, but the hallways between class periods are packed.
Hintz also reported that when he came to Warsaw in the 2008-09 school year, the school corporation had 410 fewer students than it does today. In that regard, Warsaw is fortunate to be growing where other school districts are losing students.
He said he was proud of the transparency WCS and the board has shown throughout the process as it continues to investigate what the best course of action is regarding the facilities plan.
At this time, Hintz said they are not ready to move forward with a referendum or for him to recommend the best course of action.
“I believe the four components I shared are worthy of ongoing discussion and feedback from the community,” he stated.
Community meetings to take public feedback on the facilities plan will be scheduled as that worked well for the previous building project, Hintz said.
Jay Baumgartner, board member, asked if it was possible to provide opportunities for the public to tour the school buildings to get an idea of what their needs are. From the outside, some of the buildings look fine.
“I couldn’t agree with you more. We certainly have time to do that,” Hintz answered. He suggested the tours could be given at the end of the school day or in the evenings.
Patron Linda Russell asked why a referendum was needed when the public understood the schools’ needs.
Hintz said a referendum authorizes the board to sell bonds for capital improvements. Usually, he said, the bonds are for 20 years at the best interest rate that can be acquired. The dollars can only be spent on building projects and not other matters like personnel.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said the law changed a few years back so that any projects over a certain dollar amount – $10 million – have to go through a referendum.
Russell then asked why all the building projects had to be put under one umbrella instead of doing them separately so they could build a new Lincoln now.
Because of the cost of building a new school today, Scott said they would still have to go through a referendum.
Board Vice President Matt Dick said a referendum lets the voters decide on a public building project.
Hintz also will discuss the facilities plan at the board’s regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.
In another matter, Scott noted the school corporation had $138,889 in claims for snow plowing for the period from mid December to Jan. 9.
“We had significant snowfall,” he said. “Lots of parking lots to clean. Let’s hope that that tapers off in the months to come.”
Dick noted the snow plowers have done a good job.[[In-content Ad]]
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As early as October, Warsaw Community Schools was looking at a potential capital building campaign referendum in May 2014.
Hintz Tuesday also laid out the four main components of the building campaign WCS is considering.
He said the components the school district currently is focused on include a new Lincoln Elementary School, renovation of Edgewood Middle School, renovation and expansion of Washington STEM Academy, and improvements to the Warsaw Community High School/Warsaw Area Career Center building.
When he first joined the Warsaw School System 4-1/2 years ago, Hintz said WCS was well underway with an elementary building project. That project included new Madison and Leesburg schools and renovated Claypool and Jefferson schools.
He said those projects were what the community needed, and there was a lot of public meetings and support for those. That project did not increase taxes, Hintz said, and the community got a good return on its investment.
Eighteen months ago, Hintz reminded the board that he asked them to commission a long-range study of the entire school district.
On June 25, 2012, the board awarded Kovert Hawkins the bid for the facilities assessment for $74,000. Kovert Hawkins also was the architectural company behind the four new elementary schools.
On Sept. 11, 2012, Kovert Hawkins architects James Lake and Matthew D. Gullo presented their “vision” of what WCS needs to do and could do with its facilities to improve them. If all the suggestions were approved, the price tag would be approximately $110.6 million for construction plus soft costs of 30 percent.
Over the course of the past 18 months, Hintz said they continued to take a look at the facilities. The entire board has been looking at what the future could look like, he said, and he appreciated their efforts.
For any new buildings or renovations WCS wants, Hintz said it will require a referendum. Moving forward with any substantial building project, he also indicated that it will increase taxes.
The Warsaw School District is growing in the north. He said replacing Lincoln and expanding Washington may alleviate any need in the future of having to build a new school in the northern part of the district.
WCHS was built more than 20 years ago, Hintz said. It now has a student body of just under 2,200, and has some building issues that need addressed. He said there are many good students at the school, but the hallways between class periods are packed.
Hintz also reported that when he came to Warsaw in the 2008-09 school year, the school corporation had 410 fewer students than it does today. In that regard, Warsaw is fortunate to be growing where other school districts are losing students.
He said he was proud of the transparency WCS and the board has shown throughout the process as it continues to investigate what the best course of action is regarding the facilities plan.
At this time, Hintz said they are not ready to move forward with a referendum or for him to recommend the best course of action.
“I believe the four components I shared are worthy of ongoing discussion and feedback from the community,” he stated.
Community meetings to take public feedback on the facilities plan will be scheduled as that worked well for the previous building project, Hintz said.
Jay Baumgartner, board member, asked if it was possible to provide opportunities for the public to tour the school buildings to get an idea of what their needs are. From the outside, some of the buildings look fine.
“I couldn’t agree with you more. We certainly have time to do that,” Hintz answered. He suggested the tours could be given at the end of the school day or in the evenings.
Patron Linda Russell asked why a referendum was needed when the public understood the schools’ needs.
Hintz said a referendum authorizes the board to sell bonds for capital improvements. Usually, he said, the bonds are for 20 years at the best interest rate that can be acquired. The dollars can only be spent on building projects and not other matters like personnel.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said the law changed a few years back so that any projects over a certain dollar amount – $10 million – have to go through a referendum.
Russell then asked why all the building projects had to be put under one umbrella instead of doing them separately so they could build a new Lincoln now.
Because of the cost of building a new school today, Scott said they would still have to go through a referendum.
Board Vice President Matt Dick said a referendum lets the voters decide on a public building project.
Hintz also will discuss the facilities plan at the board’s regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.
In another matter, Scott noted the school corporation had $138,889 in claims for snow plowing for the period from mid December to Jan. 9.
“We had significant snowfall,” he said. “Lots of parking lots to clean. Let’s hope that that tapers off in the months to come.”
Dick noted the snow plowers have done a good job.[[In-content Ad]]
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