June Newsletter from the Superintendent
June Article for News Release
June 12, 2009

During this month's article, I want to review the recommendations from the Long Range Facility Committee that were delivered to the Board of Education and then reviewed by the Board in late April. The Board will begin looking at these recommendations and how they may or may not be able to be achieved in the future. It will be important for us as a school district to develop community partnerships in order to realize the final recommendations.

The recommendation represents over 1000 combined hours and the consensus of over four months of meetings and analysis. The charge of the group was to develop a consensus position regarding a preferred direction for resolving the District's long-term grade organization and facility space needs, and to develop a recommendation to advise the Board of Education on the scope, content and timeline for future bond referenda.

The committee worked to develop a thorough understanding of the following: 1) Projected enrollment and populating growth: 3588 students in 09/10 growing to 4482 students in 2018/2019. 2) The capacities and capabilities of existing facilities:
Building Capacity 09/10 enrollment projection
Falcon Ridge Elementary 650 447
Raven Stream Elementary 700 575
Eagle View Elementary 700 617
New Prague Middle School 900 826
New Prague High School 1500 1166
3) The current grade structures for the district, 4) the options for grade reorganization within the existing facilities. (At the Board of Education meeting on May 26th, the Board decided not to go forward with any grade configuration changes at this time, and, 5) the space needs in each building, as well as District-Wide space needs.

The Principals from each of the District's five schools, along with the other selected staff and personnel, provided information on current building student enrollment, school finance and tax impact, information related to both past and potential future bond referenda and the mission for the future of the New Prague Area Schools. Wold Architects and Engineers aided the committee in identifying the expansion potential of the existing facilities, the project costs associated with the variety of facility development options, and the establishment of a set of criteria for evaluating these options and finalizing their recommendations.

The following are consensus statements we were able to agree on:
• Providing students with a quality educational experience is a primary priority
• Maintaining this quality experience requires an ongoing effort and continuous planning for our facilities. We strongly agree that doing nothing is not an option
• To be fiscally efficient, we must strive to have "full^TM buildings throughout the phases of executing a plan. We feel it is important to continue to use all of the buildings owned by the District to support education and the community.
• A plan must accommodate projected growth, with the ability to adjust if growth does not occur at the expected rate. We feel that any future building projects, (new, or additions) must be justified by realized enrollment growth to avoid overbuilding. An acceptable "trigger point^TM for action is 95% of building capacity.
• We agree on the following grade structure as a District standard (K-5/6-8/9-12). We agree with past planning groups who recommended that the 6th grade not be included in an elementary model (i.e. K-6). The 8th grade should not be included in a high school setting, (i.e. 8-12). The fifth grade should be flexible, with the possibility of inclusion in an elementary school setting, (i.e. current configuration of K-5, or a middle school setting, (i.e. 5-8).
• As the District continues to grow, we need to address growth in the areas that growth is taking place.
• Bus rides for students should continue to be limited to a maximum of 65 minutes.
• We believe that District facilities need to be available for community use. The District should consider partnerships to provide enhanced educational and community facilities and services.
• As a community, we believe that our buildings need to operate efficiently and provide healthy environments for users. Currently the most critical infrastructure needs exist at the older facilities in the District. Critical deferred maintenance items should be addressed at the current middle school, Falcon Ridge Elementary School and the Central Education Campus building.
• We believe that the District has put great effort into increasing the energy performance of facilities. We support this effort, and encourage continued investments.
• We believe that the current middle school site is inadequately sized. It does not meet the state guideline recommendation for site size. And athletic fields are not on District property. This site should be expanded.
• Land acquisition should be considered to accommodate growing program needs. The amount of field/outdoor play areas need to be increased to accommodate educational, athletic and community demand. The District should take advantage of current potential for a "favorable market^TM.
• The District has storage needs that cannot be accommodated with the facilities available today. Rental space is currently being utilized to relieve this need. We feel that adequate storage should be provided in an efficient and reasonable manner.
• Currently, the District must store 7 buses and 28 vans outside of the enclosed bus garage facility. District vehicles remain exposed to the elements. We feel that additional covered bus/van storage is needed to protect the District's investment in these vehicles.
In the end, the committee made the following recommendations to the Board of Education:
1. Accommodate current enrollment/capacity demands at grades 6-8 through a temporary reconfiguration of grade structure to be in effect in the fall of 2010. (Board decided on May 26th to not move forward with this option at this time).
2. Provide a second 650 student capacity middle school for grades 6-8 to open in the fall of 2014. (Future referendum will be needed pending enrollment matching projections.
a. Our current middle school will have 959 students in 12/13 and 993 in 13/14 with a capacity for 900 students.
3. We need to address field availability needs through upgrades at the stadium
4. The District will pursue future land acquisition to address existing middle school site issues and playing field shortages.
5. We will pursue community partnerships to accomplish the goal of land acquisition and playing fields.
6. Provide additional covered storage for District vehicles.
7. Invest in appropriate District support facilities and keep up with deferred maintenance recommendations.
Currently, the Board of Education is studying the various options as to how to proceed. We are going to do an over-all study and develop a master plan. With more specifics than our Facility Plan provided. To develop this plan, we will gather input from our Long Range group. Then, this fall the Board will hold a work session to look at the proposal and master plan for the projects as to what we can do short and long term.