A large crowd showed up Wednesday night at the Fieldcrest High School gymnasium in Minonk to ask the Fieldcrest Board questions on the school building issues and also to express their concerns. Their biggest concerns were losing a school building in their community and what will be the effect on their tax rates when a school building plan is adopted.
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley opened the meeting by reviewing the history of the building issue. He said there were negative reactions to the prospect of constructing a new building last year after a proposal on a new building was presented. He said the school decided to delay the decision on whether to rebuild or repair the buildings so that the newly elected board that was installed last spring could make the decision on the buildings.
Dr. Oakley said the school's 10 year Life Safety Study revealed that extensive repair cost will be needed to satisfy the state's requirements. He said most of the repairs needed are at the Fieldcrest High School and the Wenona Middle School. The school buildings at Fieldcrest Elementary in Minonk and Fieldcrest Intermediate in Toluca had additions made in 2001 and 2002 and are in relatively good shape.
Dr, Oakley said the 10 year Life Safety Study results puts a lot of pressure on the school board. He said the board does not currently have a definite plan on how to resolve the building issues but will be discussing the options and will make a decision at the board meeting on December 20, 2017. He said the school cannot ignore the state mandates because if nothing is done the state can shut the schools down. He said the options are to build new or repair the existing buildings or do a combination of both. He said a committed plan has to be in effect by December 31, 2018.
Based on the 10 year Life Safety Study, $6,155,675 is needed to fix the urgent items noted in the study and must be started by December 2018. The recommended items will cost $7,450,150 and can be down over a 5 yer period. If it is decided to build a new building, there would be a referendum on the November 2018 ballot for approval of a bond to finance the building(s). Dr. Oakley said the bond issue will obligate taxpayers for 30 to 50 years based on the size of the bond. He said the board's decision on the building issue will affect our grand children and even great grand children.
After Dr. Oakley's introduction, the meeting was open to questions from the public. Many of the questions did not receive an answer because the board has not yet developed a plan. In response to a question, Dr. Oakley said the Life Safety Study results will not change by getting a second opinion.
Several people were concerned about what happens to the abandoned school buildings if a new school building is built. The reply was that no plans have been made for what to do with the old buildings but board member Scott Hillenburg said the school would be willing to work with the community to find a use for the old building.
There was no answer as to where a new school building would be located.
Some people asked if it is wise to build a new building with declining enrollment. One person asked how can we pay for a new building when with declining enrollment there will be no students left to occupy the building.
A person asked if the board decided to build a new building, must it be done by December 2018? The answer was that the building need not be done by then but a process must be in motion working towards that end. The building itself may take 2 to 3 years to construct. Another person asked if the referendum doesn't pass, how does the school meet the December 2018 deadline to which there was no answer.
A question was asked if consolidation with another school would resolve the Life Safety issues to which the reply was it would not resolve any of the building issues.
Several asked about the cost of a new building to which there was no direct answer since a plan has not yet been developed. However, several estimates were given based on the type of building. At the high end it would cost $42 million to build a K-12 in a remote area with no infrastructure, water, or sewer or athletic fields. Another estimate was $30 million for a K-12 in an area with an infrastructure, water and sewer and $20 million for a 5-12 school in a similar environment.
Mike Flynn, President of the Wenona State Bank, said he cannot support the loss of a school in a community saying it will severely hurt the community. He said consideration would have to be given to what do with an abandoned building.
A question was asked on the bonding limit of the school. The limit is $21 million. Another question was the effect on the tax rate. Dr. Oakley said the tax rate would increase by approximately $.90 per $100 of evaluation on a bond issue of $21 million. He said the repairs cost from the Life Safety Study were estimates and the cost could possibly be lower once bids are received.
A person told the board that he felt there was not enough information available to make a decision in 30 days on the building issue. He said without data on the cost of a new building compared to the repair cost or the affect it will have on the taxpayers, there is no way the public can give valid feedback to the board.
Another person was a former school board member from Wenona who said she felt that the quality of education is determined by the quality of the staff, not the buildings. She said what is good for the family is good for the children. She said the board should get an opinion from another architect and felt it best to repair and keep the buildings in each community. She said if the board makes a decision without community feedback, there will be a fallout among the community that could result in more home schooling and transfers to other school districts.
Gary May told the board they should try to find other places that have gone through a similar situation presently facing the board and try to learn from them the best approach to take. He said there is no way 3 communities are going to agree on everything.