SYRACUSE - Building improvements appear to be on the horizon for schools in the Wawasee system.

These improvements were the recommendation of a facilities study conducted during recent weeks and discussed by the school board Tuesday.

Among the committee's recommendations:

• The existing facility for North Webster Elementary should be replaced.

• Wawasee High School should undergo a complete renovation of its auditorium and provide handicap access to the computer assisted design lab.

• Milford School should be air conditioned and barriers that restrict handicap access should be removed.

• At Syracuse Elementary, all electrical and plumbing systems should be improved or replaced, the building should be air conditioned, the kitchen should be renovated, and barriers that restrict handicap access should be removed.

In addition, the committee recommended further study of needs as related to the middle grades. The study will help decide if the corporation should build a separate middle school within the next 10 to 15 years, place all middle school students in Wawasee Middle School, or maintain the current arrangement with students at WMS and Milford School.

The facilities committee met seven times to review data, tour each school and help develop recommendations. The recommendations, while of the majority, were not unanimous.

The committee included professional consultants, building principals and citizens from the Wawasee school district.

Data evaluated by the committee included population of the school district, enrollment by grade level the last four years, present and estimated pupil population, projected kindergarten enrollment, and facility ratings and program effectiveness at each building.

Also considered were existing debt in the corporation and tax impact on the school district.

According to the report, Wawasee's total tax rate is 84 cents below the state average. Preliminary estimates to carry out the committee's recommendations total $18 million, including $12 million to build a new school in North Webster.

The report states that a project costing $12 million would add about 43 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to the debt service rate.

Superintendent Mark Stock said the board must evaluate the recommendations in light of financial and architectural considerations. Stock and the board stressed the importance of getting as much input from the public as possible before proceeding.

"It's not as simple as renovating or building a school at North Webster," Stock said. "There are other options, and the community needs to know if you've considered those things.

"There's going to be one wise patron out there who's thought of one thing you never thought of, and it ought to be thought of."

"If we have a petition process and someone is successful, we can't even look at it for another year," said board president Carol Swartzendruber. "We need to hear what the community is thinking."

While in favor of seeking community input, board vice president Jeff Wells believes things need to happen fairly soon. "I hate to see us drag it out too long before we make a decision ... I think we have a situation down there we need to address," he said.

Board member Michael Kern said that they will discuss the options, but there are other criteria to think about. "I want to get the community involved, but I don't want to get in a three-month discussion on what color carpet to put in classrooms. ... If anybody wants to bring the discussion down to that level they can deal with me," he said.

The board will meet in a public work session at 7 p.m. Sept. 25. They will use this time to evaluate the recommendations and put together options for each building. The options will then be presented in a series of community forums. [[In-content Ad]]