Warsaw Schools Mulls Year-Round School
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
At the second hearing Monday night, school board Vice President Dan Robinson asked if year-round school would eliminate the need for the project Warsaw Schools is pursuing.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said if Warsaw Schools had year-round school, that would mean the buildings would be open during the entire year. Two-thirds of the schools would be occupied year-round, with one-third rotated in and out. Teachers would have to work year-round, or more teachers would have to be hired.[[In-content Ad]]With a third of the student body being rotated in and out, Robinson said that would seem to alleviate Warsaw Schools' overcrowding problem. Teachers' contracts could be expanded, and transportation costs would increase, but he didn't think utility costs would increase significantly.
While overcrowding is a problem at Warsaw Schools, Haworth said another issue is increased programming. He said he did not know if rotating a third of the students out would help the school corporation with the additional required programs.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said the transportation budget now is about $2.1 million. If Warsaw went to year-round school, that could easily add an additional half-million dollars. Warsaw Schools also is at their cap threshold for transportation, so more money would have to come out of the general fund.
Haworth also said they struggled with summer school transportation this year, and are going to have to work on that for next year's summer school.
During the summer months, maintenance is performed on the school buildings. With year-round school, that "rest" period for facilities to be fixed wouldn't be available, said Scott.
Asked by Robinson if any school corporations have year-round school, Haworth said he could not think of any.
Scott said schools receive funding based on the number of students. If Warsaw went to year-round school, the corporation would not receive any extra funds from the state for its additional expenses.
About 10 to 12 years ago, Robinson said, when he and Gordon Vanator were on the school board together, they sent out a survey asking patrons if they were in favor of year-round school. The community, he said, "just said no." That probably hasn't changed, he said.
The school board unanimously approved a resolution stating that using year-round school is "not feasible to eliminate the need for construction of the additional classroom space."
Additional resolutions for the building project also were approved Monday.
After a lease hearing, the school board adopted a resolution authorizing execution of the lease. The lease is between the Warsaw Multi-School Building Corp. and Warsaw Community Schools. The lease states that the term of the lease will be 26 years. Lease payment will be $2,455,000 per year during renovation, and $4,911,000 per year during the term of the lease.
The board also accepted and approved a resolution receiving patrons petition and determing the need for the project.
On May 21, the school board approved moving forward with Step 1 of Option A.
Step 1 includes replacing Leesburg Elementary with a new four-section school for $16 million; expanding and renovating Claypool and Jefferson schools for $10 million each; and replacing Madison with a new four-section school for $16 million. The total bond issue for Step 1 is $65 million. The total cost for the entire Option A is approximately $100 million. The other two steps, if approved, include addressing the facility needs of the other elementary schools and the two middle schools in the school corporation.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, the Warsaw School Board then decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem the school corporation currently faces.
At the second hearing Monday night, school board Vice President Dan Robinson asked if year-round school would eliminate the need for the project Warsaw Schools is pursuing.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said if Warsaw Schools had year-round school, that would mean the buildings would be open during the entire year. Two-thirds of the schools would be occupied year-round, with one-third rotated in and out. Teachers would have to work year-round, or more teachers would have to be hired.[[In-content Ad]]With a third of the student body being rotated in and out, Robinson said that would seem to alleviate Warsaw Schools' overcrowding problem. Teachers' contracts could be expanded, and transportation costs would increase, but he didn't think utility costs would increase significantly.
While overcrowding is a problem at Warsaw Schools, Haworth said another issue is increased programming. He said he did not know if rotating a third of the students out would help the school corporation with the additional required programs.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said the transportation budget now is about $2.1 million. If Warsaw went to year-round school, that could easily add an additional half-million dollars. Warsaw Schools also is at their cap threshold for transportation, so more money would have to come out of the general fund.
Haworth also said they struggled with summer school transportation this year, and are going to have to work on that for next year's summer school.
During the summer months, maintenance is performed on the school buildings. With year-round school, that "rest" period for facilities to be fixed wouldn't be available, said Scott.
Asked by Robinson if any school corporations have year-round school, Haworth said he could not think of any.
Scott said schools receive funding based on the number of students. If Warsaw went to year-round school, the corporation would not receive any extra funds from the state for its additional expenses.
About 10 to 12 years ago, Robinson said, when he and Gordon Vanator were on the school board together, they sent out a survey asking patrons if they were in favor of year-round school. The community, he said, "just said no." That probably hasn't changed, he said.
The school board unanimously approved a resolution stating that using year-round school is "not feasible to eliminate the need for construction of the additional classroom space."
Additional resolutions for the building project also were approved Monday.
After a lease hearing, the school board adopted a resolution authorizing execution of the lease. The lease is between the Warsaw Multi-School Building Corp. and Warsaw Community Schools. The lease states that the term of the lease will be 26 years. Lease payment will be $2,455,000 per year during renovation, and $4,911,000 per year during the term of the lease.
The board also accepted and approved a resolution receiving patrons petition and determing the need for the project.
On May 21, the school board approved moving forward with Step 1 of Option A.
Step 1 includes replacing Leesburg Elementary with a new four-section school for $16 million; expanding and renovating Claypool and Jefferson schools for $10 million each; and replacing Madison with a new four-section school for $16 million. The total bond issue for Step 1 is $65 million. The total cost for the entire Option A is approximately $100 million. The other two steps, if approved, include addressing the facility needs of the other elementary schools and the two middle schools in the school corporation.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, the Warsaw School Board then decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem the school corporation currently faces.
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