COLUMBUS -- An interim plan to relocate Sunrise Elementary School students and relieve overcrowding at Shell Creek Elementary School was approved by the Lakeview Community Schools Board of Education during a special meeting Tuesday night.
The temporary plan, which would be enacted for the 2009-2010 school year, would cost about $2.2 million and move seventh- and eighth-grade students to Lakeview High School and relocate the Sunrise students to Shell Creek and Platte Center Elementary schools.
Superintendent Paul Calvert said the district would look at sending Sunrise students who reside at Country View mobile home park on U.S. Highway 30 to Platte Center and the remaining students to Shell Creek. He said 76-77 percent of the Sunrise students live in Country View. The district would have to pay mileage or offer busing to transport students to Platte Center and the high school. The decision will be determined by the board at a later date.
With this plan, the two portable classrooms currently being utilized at Sunrise and another purchased by the district would be relocated to the other elementary sites -- two at Platte Center and one at Shell Creek. The cost for purchasing a used portable, moving all three portables and hooking them up at the respective site is estimated between $160,000 and $200,000.
A significant portion of the $2.2 million would be for a permanent addition to the high school, which the board voted unanimously to support. The board approved construction of four science classrooms and two standard classrooms to add on to the high school at an estimated cost of $1.5 million for the equipped science rooms and $340,000 for the two other classrooms.
The remaining costs included installation of a sprinkler system and additional repairs at a cost of $200,000 to the district.
When four additional rooms were proposed beyond the science room addition, Keith Runge, board member, said he wanted to hold the line on spending, especially because this is a temporary solution.
In the near future, the district will ask the patrons to pass a bond to fund a permanent solution, Runge said, and if the board spends more than is necessary, voters may be inclined to oppose any proposition presented before them.
The board plans to utilize $1.5 million to fund part of the project and will hold another special meeting at 8 p.m. April 3 to discuss with a financial adviser the best method for financing the project.
Bob Arp, Lakeview High School principal, said staff would make this plan work and try to isolate the seventh- and eighth-grade students from the high school body as much as possible, based on the concerns expressed by a number of patrons.
Larry Mohrman, board member, said although this may not be the best situation for the students, at the present time it seems like the best plan available for a temporary solution under current circumstances.
“This looks like it is a doable solution ... not a long-term solution, but a workable one and we need to move forward,” Mohrman said.
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