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The District 64 Board of Education held a special meeting on Wednesday, March 6th, at Franklin Elementary School.
The District Administration presented an updated and refreshed Master Facilities Plan to the School Board. After mindful consideration, the admin team removed several items that significantly reduced the estimated cost. The Board agreed that the items presented will go to the Community Task Force for further discussion and vetting.
At this point, the plans for each school continue to be very fluid as we research more, gather data, and have important conversations. The plans are still in the beginning stages and will be updated frequently.
“In the grand scheme of things, 25 years from now, we want people to say they did it right. They put it in the right spot, as opposed to walking around the schools, and a lot of times we’re like, ‘why is it like this? Why is this here?” said Superintendent Dr. Ben Collins.
There was a significant discussion about the needs at our elementary schools. Highlighted was the fact that many of our elementary buildings have spaces where multiple staff members share the same space. For instance, at Franklin, occupational therapists and a psychologist share the same space, two social workers share a space, four special education teachers share the same space and have to utilize the hallway, and three English Language (EL) teachers utilize the same room and have to pull students into the hallway as well.
“So on paper, we, of course, can have four adults in one classroom,” said Franklin Principal Kristin Williams. “But when you start to see each adult having five kids, now we’re talking 20 students, and all of the groups are working on something different.”
There was also an update on the facility plans for the middle schools. As with everything, it’s important to note that all of this is contingent on funding that we don’t have right now. The planning has centered around updating the classrooms to fit the needs of 21st-century learning.
Read more at D64.org.
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