New Jr. High part of CPS plan

COLUMBUS -- Planning for dealing with a current enrollment bulge at Columbus Public Schools could begin as early as this fall with the purchase of a 40- to 50-acre tract of land for a new school for seventh- and eighth-graders.

That was the consensus of the CPS Board of Education Monday evening with the unveiling of a four-year timeline charting the district’s response to swelling elementary enrollment that began this year.

The timeline presented by CPS Superintendent Paul Hillyer during Monday’s board meeting begins this fall with the land purchase and ends in the summer of 2013 with the completion of a new school for seventh- and eighth-graders.

In between, the district would hire an architect (January 2010) and seek approval from the voters on a bond issue in the fall of next year. The plan of action allows for a second bond vote if the first one fails, with a two-year construction schedule beginning in the spring or summer of 2011.

Without the building of a new school for seventh- and eighth-graders, enrollment at the existing middle school (grades six, seven and eight) is expected to climb sharply, from 840 in 2012-13 to nearly 1,000 in 2015-16.

Enrollment would reach a “critical stage” about 2014-15 with enrollment more than 900 if nothing is done, Hillyer told the board.

Last fall, the school board established the district’s course by backing building a new school for seventh- and eighth-graders and remodeling the existing middle school to extend the more than 80-year-old facility’s life span for another decade, while also expanding elementary schools.

The plan calls for building the new school, while using the old middle school for fifth- and sixth-graders with a long-term plan for moving them to the new school site in a separate facility to create a campus-like atmosphere.

Board members have suggested using the existing middle school, which is scheduled for a renovation this summer to include the installation of a sprinkler system and other health and safety improvements mandated by the state fire marshal, as a stopgap facility for up to a decade.

Work on a $1.8 million addition to Lost Creek Elementary School that will add six classrooms should begin when the final bell sounds this spring. The expansion is expected to open about January 2010.

Kindergarten expansion projects at North Park, Centennial and Emerson schools were completed last summer. Kindergarten enrollment totaled nearly 320 students this fall and is expected to swell to about 350 next year.

The last bond issue OK’d by CPS voters was the 2002 passage of a $17.5 million renovation of the high school.

In other business, the school district and the city doubled up on projects for new tennis courts at Pawnee Park and infrastructure improvements for an area that will be the site of a new armory and a future school.

The board agreed to share equally in a $360,000 project to build six new public tennis courts and pay one-third of an estimated $400,000 ($133,333) in infrastructure improvements along East 14th Avenue north of 23rd Street.

Grant applications are being prepared to agencies such as the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the U.S. Tennis Association to help offset the cost of the project.

The school district and city would also share equally in any grant funds awarded.

The city, which will handle the bidding process, has not yet established a construction timetable for the project.

The city is planning to build a new National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Readiness Center and a park on a 32-acre tract along the east side of East 14th Avenue.

The school bought an adjacent 20-acre parcel as the site for a future elementary school.

The city expects to begin work on the water, paving and sanitary and storm sewer improvements this construction season.

Street paving, with an estimated price tag of $265,000, makes up the bulk of the project cost.