WCS Clarifies Plans For Building Project
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Gene England, board secretary, made a motion Monday night to include a new, expanded Madison in step 1 and eliminate the new school in the north. Madison and the new school were step 2 under the original Option A. The new Madison will be a four-section school and located in the northwest of the school district.[[In-content Ad]]The rest of step 1 will include a new four-section school in Leesburg, renovating and adding on to Jefferson to make it a four-section school, and adding on to the existing Claypool school to create a four-section school.
The bond issue for the new step 1 that includes Madison and eliminates a new school in the north will be $65 million.
Under the original Option A, the bond issue for step 1 would have been $45 million, with step 2 bond issue totaling about $40 million.
At a later date, the next step of Option A will be to add on to and renovate Washington, Lincoln, Harrison and Eisenhower elementary schools for a bond issue of $17.5 million. All four schools will be four-section schools.
The last step would be additions and renovations to the two middle schools for a bond issue of $20 million.
The new total bond issue of all of Option A will be approximately $103 million. Under the original Option A, the total bond issue would have been approximately $123 million.
Warsaw Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said that by moving Madison into step 1, it saves the school corporation money and gets students into the classrooms sooner.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, Atwood, Silver Lake and Claypool elementary schools were closed. Since then, students at those schools have been transported to other schools, causing overcrowding.
The school board interviewed five architectural firms July 19-20. On Aug. 23, the board chose Kovert Hawkins, Jeffersonville.
Kovert Hawkins developed three options, including Option A. Option B was to move the sixth grade into the middle schools, and Option C was to build an academy just for the sixth grade.
Later during Monday's meeting, the school board gave Haworth authorization to look for and have discussions on new locations for new Madison and Leesburg schools.
The school board Monday also discussed refinancing its 2003 building projects bond.
Kurt Pletcher, with Umbaugh & Associates, Plymouth, said upon reviewing the school corporation's 2003 outstanding bonds, Umbaugh identified a refinancing opportunity. He presented two options, with both generating cash for the school corporation.
The current principal on the 2003 bonds is $30 million. The bond currently would be paid off in about 2023, with more than $16 million in interest.
Pletcher said the first option refinances the bonds but keeps the same term payments. The school corporation would see $501,240.63 in savings.
Option 2 proposes to use the balance of the lease rentals, and propose a bond issue of $34,855,000. The second option would generate about $2.6 million for the school corporation that could be used for current capital project needs or applied to the building project.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said he would like Umbaugh & Associates to complete the paperwork for option 2. There is no cost to the school corporation for Umbaugh & Associates to prepare the paperwork.
Delores Hearn, school board member, said the school corporation loses $4 million under option 2 to gain $2.6 million now. Pletcher said if the $2.6 million is invested, it would generate a greater amount than $4 million later.
School board vice president Dan Robinson said if the school corporation took more of a hit in 2008 to pay off the principal, the corporation would have less interest to pay off later. Pletcher said they could look at that.
The school board approved Umbaugh & Associates to prepare the paperwork for option 2 refinancing of the 2003 bonds.
Warsaw Schools Director of Assessment Terry Roe gave the board a short presentation on Warsaw's No Child Left Behind Annual Yearly Progress. He said the state has not officially released AYP results, but he was OK'd to present it to the board.
"We have some good news ...," Roe said, "Warsaw Community Schools has made AYP this year."
WCS missed AYP since 2002 and now is under state-mandated corrective actions. No Child Left Behind requires that each year every public school and school corporation be designated by the Indiana Department of Education to have made AYP or not. Schools must meet AYP not only with total population, but also with any subgroups within the student body. Warsaw has six subgroups.
In the past, WCS didn't make AYP due to subgroups special education and English as a Second Language. Those groups were focused on to reduce their failure rate by 10 percent to make AYP through a provision.
If Warsaw Schools make AYP again next year, the school corporation will face no further sanctions.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sandra Weaver said Warsaw is one of about nine school districts in the state that are under sanctions. That number is expected to double by next year.
"We still have room for improvement," said Haworth, "but this (making AYP) is very good news."
Roe said at the state level, 311 schools, or 46 percent, made AYP this year. Forty-two, or 64.6 percent, of school corporations made AYP. About 56.7 percent of the state's elementary schools made AYP, but only 21.7 percent of the middle schools and 21.4 percent of the high schools this year made AYP.
In other business, the school board:
n Approved the offering of summer school courses.
n Approved change orders for the high school project totaling a net decrease of $4,296.
n Approved the 2007-08 school calendar.
n Approved personnel recommendations, including: resignation of Ray Davis as assistant girls basketball coach at the high school; resignation of Matt Gratton as band and color guard teacher for the high school; replacing head girls golf coach Chris LaLonde with Robert Turner; and replacing assistant girls track coach Amy Rice with William Wells.
School board members are President Ron Yeiter, Robinson, Deb Wiggins, Tammy Dalton, England, Chuck Sauders and Hearn.
Gene England, board secretary, made a motion Monday night to include a new, expanded Madison in step 1 and eliminate the new school in the north. Madison and the new school were step 2 under the original Option A. The new Madison will be a four-section school and located in the northwest of the school district.[[In-content Ad]]The rest of step 1 will include a new four-section school in Leesburg, renovating and adding on to Jefferson to make it a four-section school, and adding on to the existing Claypool school to create a four-section school.
The bond issue for the new step 1 that includes Madison and eliminates a new school in the north will be $65 million.
Under the original Option A, the bond issue for step 1 would have been $45 million, with step 2 bond issue totaling about $40 million.
At a later date, the next step of Option A will be to add on to and renovate Washington, Lincoln, Harrison and Eisenhower elementary schools for a bond issue of $17.5 million. All four schools will be four-section schools.
The last step would be additions and renovations to the two middle schools for a bond issue of $20 million.
The new total bond issue of all of Option A will be approximately $103 million. Under the original Option A, the total bond issue would have been approximately $123 million.
Warsaw Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott said that by moving Madison into step 1, it saves the school corporation money and gets students into the classrooms sooner.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, Atwood, Silver Lake and Claypool elementary schools were closed. Since then, students at those schools have been transported to other schools, causing overcrowding.
The school board interviewed five architectural firms July 19-20. On Aug. 23, the board chose Kovert Hawkins, Jeffersonville.
Kovert Hawkins developed three options, including Option A. Option B was to move the sixth grade into the middle schools, and Option C was to build an academy just for the sixth grade.
Later during Monday's meeting, the school board gave Haworth authorization to look for and have discussions on new locations for new Madison and Leesburg schools.
The school board Monday also discussed refinancing its 2003 building projects bond.
Kurt Pletcher, with Umbaugh & Associates, Plymouth, said upon reviewing the school corporation's 2003 outstanding bonds, Umbaugh identified a refinancing opportunity. He presented two options, with both generating cash for the school corporation.
The current principal on the 2003 bonds is $30 million. The bond currently would be paid off in about 2023, with more than $16 million in interest.
Pletcher said the first option refinances the bonds but keeps the same term payments. The school corporation would see $501,240.63 in savings.
Option 2 proposes to use the balance of the lease rentals, and propose a bond issue of $34,855,000. The second option would generate about $2.6 million for the school corporation that could be used for current capital project needs or applied to the building project.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said he would like Umbaugh & Associates to complete the paperwork for option 2. There is no cost to the school corporation for Umbaugh & Associates to prepare the paperwork.
Delores Hearn, school board member, said the school corporation loses $4 million under option 2 to gain $2.6 million now. Pletcher said if the $2.6 million is invested, it would generate a greater amount than $4 million later.
School board vice president Dan Robinson said if the school corporation took more of a hit in 2008 to pay off the principal, the corporation would have less interest to pay off later. Pletcher said they could look at that.
The school board approved Umbaugh & Associates to prepare the paperwork for option 2 refinancing of the 2003 bonds.
Warsaw Schools Director of Assessment Terry Roe gave the board a short presentation on Warsaw's No Child Left Behind Annual Yearly Progress. He said the state has not officially released AYP results, but he was OK'd to present it to the board.
"We have some good news ...," Roe said, "Warsaw Community Schools has made AYP this year."
WCS missed AYP since 2002 and now is under state-mandated corrective actions. No Child Left Behind requires that each year every public school and school corporation be designated by the Indiana Department of Education to have made AYP or not. Schools must meet AYP not only with total population, but also with any subgroups within the student body. Warsaw has six subgroups.
In the past, WCS didn't make AYP due to subgroups special education and English as a Second Language. Those groups were focused on to reduce their failure rate by 10 percent to make AYP through a provision.
If Warsaw Schools make AYP again next year, the school corporation will face no further sanctions.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sandra Weaver said Warsaw is one of about nine school districts in the state that are under sanctions. That number is expected to double by next year.
"We still have room for improvement," said Haworth, "but this (making AYP) is very good news."
Roe said at the state level, 311 schools, or 46 percent, made AYP this year. Forty-two, or 64.6 percent, of school corporations made AYP. About 56.7 percent of the state's elementary schools made AYP, but only 21.7 percent of the middle schools and 21.4 percent of the high schools this year made AYP.
In other business, the school board:
n Approved the offering of summer school courses.
n Approved change orders for the high school project totaling a net decrease of $4,296.
n Approved the 2007-08 school calendar.
n Approved personnel recommendations, including: resignation of Ray Davis as assistant girls basketball coach at the high school; resignation of Matt Gratton as band and color guard teacher for the high school; replacing head girls golf coach Chris LaLonde with Robert Turner; and replacing assistant girls track coach Amy Rice with William Wells.
School board members are President Ron Yeiter, Robinson, Deb Wiggins, Tammy Dalton, England, Chuck Sauders and Hearn.
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