Feasibility study suggests various improvements needed at Highland schools

A feasibility study on Highland schools recommended a list of improvements ranging from expanding Highland Primary School to a performing arts building at Highland High.

Superintendent Mike Sutton stressed the study is a compilation of everything that might be needed at the schools, not a list of everything that will be done. But some of the projects will need to be addressed, he said.

Among the issues: Highland Primary has kindergarteners split between the primary and multi-purpose building with special education classes scattered about the buildings.

One possible solution would be an addition with 14-18 classrooms off the gymnasium. It adds space but wouldn’t eliminate the need for students to occasionally travel to the elementary school, which is a safety concern, according to FGM Architects spokesman Art Hayhurst, who presented the study to the Highland School Board on Monday, Jan. 27. It also only accommodates existing students and doesn’t provide room for growth or additional disability access..

To fully address the issue, Hayhurst said, the district could build a separate primary building for early childhood through second grade, keeping all the younger children in one building with better safety and security, as well as space for current enrollment and ADA accessibility, he said. Highland Elementary would then house grades three-five, and the removal of the existing primary and multi-purpose buildings would allow age-appropriate playground equipment adjacent to the elementary school.

“It’s obvious we have an issue at Highland Primary that needs to be addressed one way or the other,” Sutton said.

A new building would also allow up-to-date technology, he said.

“We are trying to compete with regional school districts to convince people to move to town,” he said. “One of the first things people look at is the primary school.”

The other elementary schools also have issues, such as lacking secure entrances and covered walkways, Hayhurst said.

Overcrowding seemingly a problem

At Highland Middle School, overcrowding is an issue. The library is sometimes being used as a classroom, seventh graders are scattered throughout the building, there is limited special-needs space or STEM rooms and no vocational areas are available.

The average class size is 32, Hayhurst said.

The possible solution would be an eight-classroom addition and a vocational addition in order to free up the library and allow STEM programs to take place. It would also allow them to keep the grades in their own wings, so younger sixth-graders aren’t mingling in the hallways with eighth-graders, as well as add vocational programming.

“In order to do vocational education at the middle school right now, we’d have to bus them to the high school,” Hayhurst said.

At Highland High School, traffic comes entirely from Troxler Avenue with buses unloading in general parking. There are space issues, with the library being used for classes and no multi-purpose space apart from the gym. The band and music rooms are too small for the entire choir to rehearse at once, and similar restrictions exist in the vocational shop.

“It’s a tight space,” Hayhurst said. “If you want 25 students in the room ... you’re shy by 10 spaces.”

In order to share the gym, some teams are practicing very early in the morning.

Hayhurst presents 4 possible solutions

Hayhurst presented four options at the high school. The biggest would involve a new performing arts building for music and band, a vocational arts addition and renovation and a new entrance with a circle drive with expanded parking, a newly defined entrance and separate bus loading area.

The other options incorporate various measures of that plan without the performing arts building, with or without a new field house by the stadium.

“The initial design of the school was that they built the athletic facility before the school,” Hayhurst said. “That’s why the layout is the way it is.”

There’s no bottom-line dollar figure on the projects, because any of them have multiple options and costs are projected to go up each year, so a renovation approved in 2020 might be $4 million less expensive than the same project postponed to 2025.

School construction finances

But Highland Primary’s projects range from $4.8 million for an addition to $20.25 million for a new primary school, if done in 2020. Highland Middle’s additions were estimated at $2.7 million for both the classrooms and vocational expansions.

Highland High’s projections range from $344,923 for the new driveway to $3.1 million for a second gymnasium to $4.5 million for fine arts expansion and $4.2 million for vocational construction, or $1.5 million for an alternate plan creating a second entrance and $600,000 for renovating existing vocational spaces, among many other variations.

How to pay for millions in school construction? Sutton said over the next seven years, Highland’s bond debt will drop from $4 million a year to zero, and the district will be debt-free.

“That’s why this is a key time to determine what our facility needs are and our bond service will be, to determine what we can afford without a significant impact on our taxpayers,” Sutton said.

Sutton believes it will be possible to structure the construction bonds so Highland’s tax rate will not increase.

“We can keep the tax rate just the same as it is right now and have most everything we talked about tonight,” he told the board.

Not luxury items for the schools

However, Sutton stressed the items on the list “aren’t luxuries,” particularly at Highland Primary and Elementary as the kids walk between buildings.

“We are keeping track of kids on cameras as they go from one building to the other,” he said. “That’s not safe.”

Financing options will be the major subject of discussion at the February school board meeting, as financial advisory firm Stifel Nicolaus will meet with the board to discuss financing options. Sutton also said they may call a special board meeting between now and the next meeting to go through the feasibility study and highlight the district’s priorities.

This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 4:49 PM.