With the new grade bands approved by the Lakota Board of Education, the Master Facilities Committee met on May 5, 2023 to continue its discussion on how best to make the plan become a reality in order to meet the future educational needs of Lakota students in a fiscally responsible way.
As discussed at the March committee meeting, while the district owns enough land to build two new high schools as called for in the approved plan, referred to as “Option 4,” the acreage is not large enough to accommodate new athletic facilities. This can be solved by building additions onto the existing East and West high schools, which Chief Operations Officer Chris Passarge shared with the committee.
This plan, now referred to as “Option 5,” would require a shift in which existing buildings would become the two middle schools, housing grades 6-8. Passarge explained that the current East Freshman and Plains Junior schools would fill this role. Option 5 would also require one additional K-5 elementary school compared to the approved Option 4. Both plans keep the same grade-band configuration.
In addition to the building configuration, Passarge also updated the total cost based on the latest numbers from the Ohio Facilities Construction Committee (OFCC). See chart below for a side-by-side comparison of the two plans.
“The reason we chose East Freshman and Plains Junior (for middle schools),” explained Passarge, “is that those buildings are already set up to be for secondary level kids, or older kids.” This would mean that less renovation would need to be done as opposed to converting East Freshman to an elementary school as called for in Option 4.
Passarge explained to the committee that this exercise is called “proof of concept.” In other words, working with the district’s architectural firm, VSWC, they are able to prove that the chosen sites would accommodate the plans. The Board agreed that they would like Passarge to continue exploring Option 5 because it would keep the approved grade bands, maintain athletic fields on the same campus as the high schools and have a lower cost than Option 4.
The next step will be for Passarge to review attendance zones and determine the locations of the three new K-5 buildings outlined in Option 5 for the committee’s August 18 meeting.
Option 4 (Board Approved Plan) | Option 5 (Suggested Adjustments) |
---|---|
Preschool: 1 school Liberty ECS |
Preschool: 1 school Liberty ECS |
K-5: 12 schools Cherokee, Endeavor, Independence, Union, VanGorden, Wyandot, Plains Junior, Ridge Junior, East Freshman, 3 NEW K-5 buildings |
K-5: 11 schools Cherokee, Endeavor, Independence, Union, VanGorden, Wyandot, Ridge Junior, 4 NEW K-5 buildings |
6-8: 2 schools Lakota East and West |
6-8: 2 schools East Freshman and Plains Junior |
9-12: 2 schools 2 NEW high schools |
9-12: 2 schools Additions on Lakota East and West |
Total Cost: 562,000,000 (Excludes athletic facilities) |
Total Cost: $515,000,000 (Use existing athletic facilities) |
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