Posted 1:57 am Friday, April 09, 2010
Jacksonville ISD Seeks Community Input On 10-Year Master Plan
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE -- Jacksonville ISD is forming a community group to help write a 10-year master plan for district facility needs.
Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE -- Jacksonville ISD is forming a community group to help write a 10-year master plan for district facility needs.
Superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell said the group will include about 25 people, including parents, school representatives and community leaders, who will look at the facilities JISD has and what improvements will be necessary in a 10-year period.
"I think we have to look to the future, the future of not just the school district but the future of the city and the kids involved in the city. For all of us, I think it's important to look toward the future and make sure it's done correctly," he said.
The group also will look at a recent demographic study for information before it makes recommendations to the school board, said James Houser, school board president.
Among the study's findings is that the percentage of Hispanic students in the district has increased -- going from 26 percent in 2000 to 43 percent in 2009 -- and that JISD is over capacity at its permanent facilities.
According to the study, the district is over its permanent capacity by 663 students and is only meeting capacity by using 33 portable buildings.
With those facility issues at hand, Houser said a bond election is inevitable.
JISD has not had a bond program pass since the late 1990s and three proposals have failed in the past five years.
A 2005 bond proposal would have paid for three new elementary schools, renovation of a fourth elementary school, classroom renovations at the high school, elimination of portable buildings and a science wing at the high school, among other things.
The 2006 bond would have replaced East Side and Joe Wright elementary schools, while the 2007 bond would have paid for building an elementary school to house up to 1,000 students from prekindergarten through fourth grade.
Wardell said doing anything significant to facilities at this point would require another bond election. However, details of such a bond would hinge on feedback from the community group.
It will depend on "what they feel like the needs are and how we can best address needs and what we need to do first to address those needs. (That) will drive timing on that, what it is and how much it is," he said.
Wardell expects to have the community group functioning by the end of the school year.
"Board members have given me several names that they would suggest should be a part of it," he said. "I've been in the community just over a year now and know some of the people but not all the people, so their knowledge is going to be more important than mine on that."
In the meantime, Dallas-based Claycomb Associates, Architects, will do an in-depth evaluation of facilities, and the middle school and high school will undergo minor improvements.
Wardell said a new $44,000 partition is scheduled to go up in the middle school so that multiple teams can practice at the same time.
Some students now have to practice at 6 or 6:30 a.m. and others aren't able to start practice until 7 or 7:30 p.m., he said.
Bleachers will also be replaced in the high school gym, which is used for volleyball, basketball, pep rallies and community groups.
Wardell said the bleacher renovation is well worth its $70,402 price tag because he worries about student safety with the current bleachers.
Both projects are set to begin this summer.
