Eagle Valley, Empire schools focus of first phase of bond

Just as seventh-grader Kailee Foirica, 13, got her food Wednesday from the Eagle Valley Middle School cafeteria, students started being dismissed from their lunch hour.

"I just sat down when they opened the door," she said. "I feel rushed."

Principal Lee Conley said it's a common problem at the school where the cafeteria is not large enough to accommodate the population.

"Some kids are only getting 10 minutes," he said. "Some kids don't want to wait in line so they don't even eat."

Even once they get their food, seating is crowded, with some students opting to sit on a bench against the wall rather than trying to find a seat at a table.

"We're all squished together when we're eating," said sixth-grader Katy Liemandt, 11.

The limited room also affects instruction time because the seventh-grade class is split over two lunch hours. Half the class eats with the sixth-graders and the other half is scheduled to dine with the eighth-graders.

"We've had to revamp our entire schedule because of space," Conley said.

It's one of the reasons he would like voters to pass the bond question on this year's ballot.

As part of the 2010 school bond, one of the main projects for the first phase would be to enlarge the cafeteria as well as the gymnasium at the middle school to provide a space where the entire student body could gather.

School board trustees voted in March to pursue a rollover bond issue at 43 cents per $100 of a home's assessed value over a period of 10 years.

The first phase, to begin in 2011 and be complete in 2012, would cost $25 million and would address "high priority" needs in the district as determined by a master plan committee made up of parents, school officials and community members.

If voters approve the bond, every school in the district would receive improvements during the first phase in mechanical systems, safety upgrades and handicapped access.

Superintendent Richard Stokes said upgrading outdated mechanical systems alone would save $25,000 to $30,00 in energy costs at the elementary schools annually.

He anticipates the total savings from the projects in the first phase to save the district $375,000 a year.

The majority of the projects would be done at Empire Elementary School and Eagle Valley Middle School, removing portable classrooms at each of the sites.

Estimated operating costs of a brick-and-mortar building is $3 per square foot, while it costs about $6 a square foot to maintain a portable building.

About $5.9 million is budgeted for the improvements to Eagle Valley. Officials are considering expanding the cafeteria there into the gymnasium then building a new gym in an addition to the school.

Conley said he would welcome a new gym with enough bleachers for the entire school to congregate. As it is, the school can only meet one class at a time.

Assemblies have to be divided up and it is difficult to promote a sense of school spirit.

"Right now, there's a natural non-camaraderie," Conley said. "We have no sense of a community feel."

The school recently hosted a middle school basketball tournament, but had to hold the games at the high school.

"It takes away the sense of ownership of it," he said.

Empire Elementary School Principal Evelyn Allred said her school, which is operating at 120 percent capacity, struggles with unity as well.

"We have two entire grades, one-third of our school, in portable classrooms," she said. "That is not the optimal teaching environment."

Projects at that school are expected to cost $7.6 million, with the objective of saving money over time and increasing security.

In addition to adding to the operating costs, Allred said, the portable classrooms present an array of problems.

As students travel from their classrooms to the main building for special classes like music and P.E. and for lunch, they are exposed to the elements. As they enter the main building, the doors open, increasing heating and cooling costs, and the traffic increases cleaning and maintenance costs.

It also presents an element of danger, Allred said.

The back door remains unlocked during the day because students use it to go from the school to their classrooms. The door is adjacent to a community park, compromising the security of the school.

"We've never had a problem with it," Allred said, "but we want to make sure that we never do."

A redesign of the school would move the front office closer to the school's entrance so visitors would not have open access to classrooms.

"Just to have everyone under one roof where we can see people as they come in and out would be great," Allred said. "It would put us all in one school, and make us all one united group."

Other safety upgrades there are also planned, such as a restructuring the roof so it's no so easily accessible. Allred said there have been problems in the past with students climbing on top and sometimes skateboarding off of it.

Stokes said the two schools will receive the most attention initially because they are in the most need.

He said Eagle Valley Middle School should be brought up to the same standards as Carson Middle School, which was renovated as part of the 2006 bond.

Redistricting to make more room at Eagle Valley would not solve the problem.

"I believe that Carson Middle School is operating at capacity now," he said. "To try to rezone Eagle Valley would make Carson Middle unwieldy."

Likewise, moving students out of Empire Elementary School is not a viable option, he said. Although enrollment throughout the district has been declining, Stokes said, most schools are at capacity, just not overcrowded as they had been at the peak of enrollment early in the decade.

Rezoning Empire Elementary School in particular, he said, would nullify the advantages of the neighborhood school where the majority of the students live within walking distance.

"It flies in the face of common sense," he said.