Posted 11:07 pm Tuesday, May 19, 2009
TISD Trustees Review Griffin Location Plans
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD trustees reviewed plans for the new Griffin Elementary School, including its location, which was publicly announced for the first time at a board meeting Monday.
Staff Writer
Tyler ISD trustees reviewed plans for the new Griffin Elementary School, including its location, which was publicly announced for the first time at a board meeting Monday.
The new two-story Griffin Elementary will be on property owned by TISD, next to Dogan Middle School and near the corner of Broadway Avenue and 28th Street, which TISD plans to extend to Broadway.
The location of Griffin, and therefore the opening date for the new school, was delayed after the district’s initial proposal for its location was met with resistance from the Griffin community in February.
The prior proposal was to swap land with the city to allow TISD to build the new Griffin Elementary on a portion of Woldert Park, a city park across the street from the school.
Under the proposal, once the new Griffin was built and the old was torn down, a park would be created where the old school was — with upgraded amenities — that TISD would pay for.
While community members supported the new school, no one spoke in favor of the “land swap” proposal at a community meeting to discuss the issue in February. Community members voiced concerns about traffic congestion, im-pact on the history of the park and the type of activity a public park could bring into their neighborhood.
Under the new plan, Griffin will not have a prototypical Jack Elementary design as was originally proposed. Instead, it will have a “unique,” split-level design. It is still designed to contain 800 students.
According to designs that architects presented to trustees Monday, the district plans to extend 28th Street from Bois d’Arc to Broadway and close Bois d’Arc between 26th and 28th streets.
TISD plans to buy two acres in front of the school for better accessibility and visibility. The school sits about a block back from Broadway.
Preliminary designs show a rotunda entryway for the school, which will be about 90,000 square feet and is bigger than the Jack Elementary model.
The board will consider approving these preliminary plans for Griffin at its regular board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday. Another presentation of the plans is expected at that time as well.
TISD is constructing a new Griffin Elementary as part of the $124.9 million bond package voters approved in November. The bond is also paying for replacement schools for Clarkston, Orr and Woods elementary schools as well as a joint replacement school for Mattie Jones Elementary and the St. Louis School-Wayne D. Boshears Center for Exceptional Pro-grams facility that serves special needs students.
All schools other than Grif-fin are expected to open in August 2010. Griffin is expected to be completed in December 2010.
Eubanks, Harris, Roberts, Craig is the architecture company working on the Griffin project. They also are designing Clarkston, Orr and Woods.
TISD Trustee the Rev. Orenthia Mason thanked Reid for “listening to the community.”
“Thank you for all that you have done to make this dream come true for Griffin Elementary parents, students, faculty and staff and for the community,” the Rev. Mason said.
Trustee Brad Spradlin said he agreed and noted that this was one of the most extensive searches for a school location that the district’s done.
“It’s going to be a beautiful school and a beautiful location,” Spradlin said.
Board President Ron Vickery said this was a “good exercise in listening to the community and listening to your constituents and trying to make a decision that’s best for them.”
“It’s an exciting time for that whole community,” Vickery said.
The board also reviewed color palettes for the new Woods, Clarkston and Orr elementary schools as well as for the new Jones/Boshears campus.
Also Monday, after a closed session meeting, the board approved allowing the superintendent to enter into contract negotiations for additional land associated with the new Jones/Boshears campus.
Reid has said the district is discussing purchasing the church in front of the location where the new school is being built. He said the acquisition of that land would help with traffic patterns and line of sight.
The prior proposal was to swap land with the city to allow TISD to build the new Griffin Elementary on a portion of Woldert Park, a city park across the street from the school.
Under the proposal, once the new Griffin was built and the old was torn down, a park would be created where the old school was — with upgraded amenities — that TISD would pay for.
While community members supported the new school, no one spoke in favor of the “land swap” proposal at a community meeting to discuss the issue in February. Community members voiced concerns about traffic congestion, im-pact on the history of the park and the type of activity a public park could bring into their neighborhood.
Under the new plan, Griffin will not have a prototypical Jack Elementary design as was originally proposed. Instead, it will have a “unique,” split-level design. It is still designed to contain 800 students.
According to designs that architects presented to trustees Monday, the district plans to extend 28th Street from Bois d’Arc to Broadway and close Bois d’Arc between 26th and 28th streets.
TISD plans to buy two acres in front of the school for better accessibility and visibility. The school sits about a block back from Broadway.
Preliminary designs show a rotunda entryway for the school, which will be about 90,000 square feet and is bigger than the Jack Elementary model.
The board will consider approving these preliminary plans for Griffin at its regular board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday. Another presentation of the plans is expected at that time as well.
TISD is constructing a new Griffin Elementary as part of the $124.9 million bond package voters approved in November. The bond is also paying for replacement schools for Clarkston, Orr and Woods elementary schools as well as a joint replacement school for Mattie Jones Elementary and the St. Louis School-Wayne D. Boshears Center for Exceptional Pro-grams facility that serves special needs students.
All schools other than Grif-fin are expected to open in August 2010. Griffin is expected to be completed in December 2010.
Eubanks, Harris, Roberts, Craig is the architecture company working on the Griffin project. They also are designing Clarkston, Orr and Woods.
TISD Trustee the Rev. Orenthia Mason thanked Reid for “listening to the community.”
“Thank you for all that you have done to make this dream come true for Griffin Elementary parents, students, faculty and staff and for the community,” the Rev. Mason said.
Trustee Brad Spradlin said he agreed and noted that this was one of the most extensive searches for a school location that the district’s done.
“It’s going to be a beautiful school and a beautiful location,” Spradlin said.
Board President Ron Vickery said this was a “good exercise in listening to the community and listening to your constituents and trying to make a decision that’s best for them.”
“It’s an exciting time for that whole community,” Vickery said.
The board also reviewed color palettes for the new Woods, Clarkston and Orr elementary schools as well as for the new Jones/Boshears campus.
Also Monday, after a closed session meeting, the board approved allowing the superintendent to enter into contract negotiations for additional land associated with the new Jones/Boshears campus.
Reid has said the district is discussing purchasing the church in front of the location where the new school is being built. He said the acquisition of that land would help with traffic patterns and line of sight.
BUDGET 101
Trustees also got a “Budget 101” lesson from district officials on Monday.
Tosha Bjork, director of fi-nancial services for TISD, and Reid reviewed the district’s funding sources as well as the process it goes through to develop the budget each year.
Ms. Bjork also explained that the district’s needs so far for the 2009-10 budget total about $2.8 million. That in-cludes the cost of bumping up starting teacher pay to $40,000 from $39,500 as well as step increases. It also includes staffing plan increases at elementary and secondary schools and departmental increases. It does not include, though, raises or “priority items,” according to her presentation.
The district is waiting on the state Legislature to see what funding it will provide school districts over the next biennium.
TISD officials said it’s possible the state may give a $100 per WADA (Weighted Average Daily Attendance) increase in target revenue, which would result in about $2.2 million for TISD, though a certain amount of that may be required to go to a minimum teacher raise. Officials said that’s legislation that’s being discussed but has not yet been approved.
TISD also still has a penny and a half of capacity on its tax rate left before it has to go to voters to approve a tax rate increase. That penny and a half, under current state law, would generate about $1.2 million, Ms. Bjork said. It’s unclear, though, how much that cent and a half would generate if the Legislature changes the law, she said.
Tosha Bjork, director of fi-nancial services for TISD, and Reid reviewed the district’s funding sources as well as the process it goes through to develop the budget each year.
Ms. Bjork also explained that the district’s needs so far for the 2009-10 budget total about $2.8 million. That in-cludes the cost of bumping up starting teacher pay to $40,000 from $39,500 as well as step increases. It also includes staffing plan increases at elementary and secondary schools and departmental increases. It does not include, though, raises or “priority items,” according to her presentation.
The district is waiting on the state Legislature to see what funding it will provide school districts over the next biennium.
TISD officials said it’s possible the state may give a $100 per WADA (Weighted Average Daily Attendance) increase in target revenue, which would result in about $2.2 million for TISD, though a certain amount of that may be required to go to a minimum teacher raise. Officials said that’s legislation that’s being discussed but has not yet been approved.
TISD also still has a penny and a half of capacity on its tax rate left before it has to go to voters to approve a tax rate increase. That penny and a half, under current state law, would generate about $1.2 million, Ms. Bjork said. It’s unclear, though, how much that cent and a half would generate if the Legislature changes the law, she said.
OATH
Also Monday, the oath of office was administered to newly elected trustees and the board discussed reorganiza-tion. Board elections were cancelled for seats held by Spradlin, Vickery and Eleno Licea because they were the only ones to file for their respective seats. The district is still required to meet to can-vass the election, however.
Vickery and Spradlin will complete three-year terms for the districts 5 and 7 seats. Licea will finish the one year left on the unexpired term of his District 1 seat.
Vickery will remain as the TISD board president and Michelle Carr will remain as vice president of the board. Gina Orr, who also serves as the superintendent’s secretary, will remain the board secretary.
Vickery and Spradlin will complete three-year terms for the districts 5 and 7 seats. Licea will finish the one year left on the unexpired term of his District 1 seat.
Vickery will remain as the TISD board president and Michelle Carr will remain as vice president of the board. Gina Orr, who also serves as the superintendent’s secretary, will remain the board secretary.
