Whether Warsaw Schools continues looking at a building project comes down to two little boxes.

At the first community meetings Tuesday night held at Madison Elementary School, each patron was given a green card. On one side is room for comments. On the other side are two little boxes for patrons to check: One box tells Warsaw Schools to continue on with the building project inquiry, while the other box said Warsaw schools are fine as they are and no further investigation into the issue is needed. The green cards will be handed out at the next three community meetings, too, with the results determining if the school corporation continues the process.

A patron at Tuesday's meeting said it was appalling that there was even a box for people to check saying the buildings are fine as they are. It's obvious something needs to be done, she said. Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said as obvious as it may seem to some, there will be people who will check that box.

About three dozen patrons attended the two separate meetings Tuesday, along with school board members and school officials. Each meeting lasted approximately 45 minutes.

The meetings were led by Kovert Hawkins, Jeffersonville, the architectural firm the school board hired Aug. 21.

For this step of the process, architect Hal E. Kovert said it's about discovery: Does the community feel a building project is warranted? What are the school buildings' deficiencies, functional areas and conditions? What are Warsaw's demographics now and where is the school corporation headed?

"We're new to the community just like Dr. Haworth is and we're taking a fresh approach," said Kovert.

Patrons, teachers, faculty, staff and others will have 100 percent input. No answers will be provided before all the questions are asked, Kovert said.

Educational Consultant Dr. Donal Neal, with Kovert Hawkins, provided enrollment figures for the elementary schools based on the current fall figures. For their figures, Kovert Hawkins took all the portable classrooms out of the equation. All the classrooms being held in lockerrooms, on stages and in hallways were put back into existing facilities. Based on those conditions, Neal said Eisenhower is at 102 percent capacity; Harrison, 118 capacity; Jefferson, 162 percent; Leesburg, 217 percent; Lincoln, 169 percent; Madison, 191 percent; and Washington, 181 percent capacity. Claypool is at zero capacity because it currently is closed.

A patron asked how many students were figured for a classroom for Kovert Hawkins' numbers. Kovert said they used 20 students for grades kindergarten through second grade, and the intermediate level had 25 students per classroom.

Currently, there are no plans for a building project. 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 has since said Claypool will be reopened, but also are considering renovating and expanding Claypool and building at least one new elementary school. No decision has been made.

Neal said new programs mandated by the state will affect Warsaw Schools. "Educational programs have definitely changed," he said. Beginning in 2008, the ISTEP will test students on science. Full-day kindergarten is expected to become a reality in Indiana at some point. Individual student testing also is on the rise. Those programs will need room.

School Board Secretary Gene England asked what the chances are of Indiana going to all-day kindergarten. Neal said he thinks it will happen, but couldn't say when. Haworth said he recently filled out a superintendent survey that asked if Warsaw Schools will be ready for all-day kindergarten by 2008. Haworth said Warsaw wouldn't be without using a lot more lockerrooms, basements, etc. for classrooms.

Architect Jamie Lake presented a slide show of the conditions of the various schools. He showed how each elementary school was overcrowded, how teachers are dealing with the overcrowding, and maintenance work that needs done on some of the schools. He talked about how programs like English as a Second Language are forced into "incredibly small classrooms," and how portables have been used for the past 20 years when the state doesn't want them to be used for more than three years. Warsaw Schools has 900 ESL students, Lake said, which is more than some entire school corporations in the state. The school cafeterias are so small they can't handle all the students at once, leaving some students with only 5 minutes to eat lunch.

Kovert then talked about the next steps. The current step is the "discovery" process. Step two is "identification" of the deficiencies and what needs to be done. Step three is the development of possible solutions. "There will not just be one option," Kovert said. All options will be presented to the school board and public. The fourth step is direction, and that is where the school board, based on community input, decides what kind of building project to undertake if at all.

A patron asked what kind of time frame were they looking at before Warsaw Schools reaches this problem again. Kovert said that would be determined by the demographic study. A study, however, can only project out five years because they can't project the unborn. Haworth said past demographic studies for Warsaw Schools showed that Warsaw would be flat-lined this year. Instead, WCS population grew by about 350 students. Warsaw needs to find out why.

Lake said another issue is how big patrons want their schools to be. Where do you put the cap on how big a school is? Salem schools, he said, has one elementary school of 1,400 students. For them, they just keep adding on to the building as they grow and that works for that school corporation.

Haworth said WCS needs answers now if they should go forward with a project. "We need feedback as to whether we will pursue a building project or not," he said.

A patron asked if they are looking at the middle schools and possibly moving the sixth grades up into the middle school. Kovert said right now they are in the "discovery" stage, but he said they will look at the middle schools at some point, too.

Kovert Hawkins and Haworth also talked about equity for all students and how each student should receive the same opportunity as students in other school buildings. Warsaw's growth problem isn't just about the elementary schools though as Haworth said the whole school corporation is affected. Half the unexpected growth this year was for grades kindergarten through eighth grade, the other half was for the high school.

The next community meetings are: Thursday, 7 p.m., Claypool; Wednesday, 7 p.m., Jefferson; and Sept. 11, 7 p.m., Lincoln. Child care will be provided. Call 574-371-5098, Ext. 2400, to reserve space. In addition, Kovert Hawkins will have a booth at the WCHS football games Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. [[In-content Ad]]