Future needs addressed by school report

Tonight, the Columbia School Board will get a report assessing district needs for the next five years.

The master plan report, compiled by the district’s Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee, was 18 months in the making and is divided into three reports: educational adequacy, engineering and community engagement.

The report will allow the board to better understand problems in the district and how to fix them, including the best way to finance changes, said Dan Keck, an independent consultant based in St. Louis who was hired by the Columbia Public School District.

Michelle Baumstark, school community programs and communications coordinator, said the district wants to be more visionary for the future. The issue of space is not the only one that needs to be addressed, she said.

“The curriculum should be dictating what the building looks like ,” Baumstark said.

Keck oversaw the educational adequacy study, which looks at how conducive school environments are to learning ­— for example, whether rooms are big enough.

“Simply put, an education adequacy (study) rates each building on how well it supports the instructional program, or on how much it impedes the program,” Keck said.

The study indicated a major issue with crowding. There is a significant number of trailers at some schools, and the infrastructure — cafeteria, gym, media center, hallways and restrooms — are beyond capacity, said Jacque Cowherd, deputy superintendent and the district’s staff liaison for the committee.

Keck said the district has 152 trailers, which are used to educate more than 3,000 students. This puts some students in learning environments that may not be the best for teaching and learning, he said.

Baumstark said the district wants to get rid of the trailers.

“Any time we have trailers, it puts added stress on the building,” she said.

The engineering study — conducted by the DLR Group, which specializes in corporate, educational, justice, sports and entertainment facilities — reflects the district’s desire to make air conditioning a priority. Maintenance and the possibility of building another school are close behind.

The study estimates it would cost about $62 million to air-condition all spaces that lack air conditioning in the district, Cowherd said.

The study provides a plan for the district to make school buildings more energy-efficient. It looked at issues such as trailers costing more than twice what it costs to heat a classroom, Keck said.

“The study did indicate that CPS buildings were in good shape if not for overcrowding,” Cowherd said.

The community engagement portion of the report, drawn from surveys of parents and forums in September, found that the top concern is the number of school changes during the K-12 years. Baumstark said the preferred number of school moves is two: from elementary to a sixth- through eighth-grade school, and from there to a high school.

Keck said the preferred configuration is another reason for the board to consider new school buildings.

“They’re definitely going to need to consider new elementary schools,” Keck said, “and they’re also going to consider a new high school.”

Keck called the parent and community response from the September forums “very helpful constructive criticism” and said it aids in making decisions.

“You don’t make changes based on the good news,” Keck said. “You make changes based on the bad news.”

Community input will be sought again down the line, Baumstark said.

“If (parents) have questions, they can always contact the district,” she said. She also suggested that parents with questions visit the district’s Web site, www.columbia.k12.mo.us/ or contact school principals.

The planning committee is made up mainly of community leaders, district staff and parent representatives. It was charged with three goals:

• To appoint a group to conduct an evaluation of educational adequacy based on a national standards rubric.
• To conduct an engineering study to assess air conditioning and other maintenance repairs needed, including heating systems, structural issues, electrical updates and energy efficiency.
• To conduct forums and surveys such as the Community Engagement Survey given to parents.

Board members will review the master plan report and decide what steps to take.