Posted 12:13 am Sunday, July 31, 2011
New $19 Million Elkhart High School Brings Changes For Students At All Grade Levels
By BETTY WATERS
Staff Writer
ELKHART — It took six years and four trips to the polls for Elkhart ISD to succeed in a thrust toward meeting major facility needs.
In the end, the community supported the building of a “beautiful high school” everyone can be proud of for years to come, said Superintendent Mike Moon.
Staff Writer
ELKHART — It took six years and four trips to the polls for Elkhart ISD to succeed in a thrust toward meeting major facility needs.
In the end, the community supported the building of a “beautiful high school” everyone can be proud of for years to come, said Superintendent Mike Moon.
The modernistic, $19 million Elkhart High School sits on about a 57-acre tract on U.S. Highway 287 north of downtown waiting for finishing touches and students to start school.
“It took a lot of hard work and the community had to finally pull together. It’s something they’ve needed,” Moon said.
Construction of the high school makes it possible for the district to shuffle other grades and provide more space for them in existing facilities as part of a 10-year master plan for addressing facility needs.
“It took a lot of hard work and the community had to finally pull together. It’s something they’ve needed,” Moon said.
Construction of the high school makes it possible for the district to shuffle other grades and provide more space for them in existing facilities as part of a 10-year master plan for addressing facility needs.
That means when school opens, not only will ninth- through 12th-graders be in a new high school, but “everybody in the district will be moving,” Moon said.
The old high school will become the middle school for sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Prisoners from Tennessee Colony are remodeling restrooms and painting the building inside and out this summer for its new student body.
The old middle school will receive half of the elementary students and become known as an intermediate school for third, fourth and fifth grades.
The old high school will become the middle school for sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Prisoners from Tennessee Colony are remodeling restrooms and painting the building inside and out this summer for its new student body.
The old middle school will receive half of the elementary students and become known as an intermediate school for third, fourth and fifth grades.
The elementary school will house prekindergarten through second grade. Head Start will move into the elementary building and the district will get rid of six portable classrooms.
Until now, all grades were housed in schools grouped together on a downtown lot, all over-capacity. “We’ve outgrown the area,” Moon said.
The district trod a long road full of setbacks before reaching the point now solving many of its facility needs.
The effort began when the district placed a proposal on the ballot in December 2005 to issue bonds for construction of an elementary school. Voters narrowly defeated the proposition with 256 opposed votes and 245 in favor.
Until now, all grades were housed in schools grouped together on a downtown lot, all over-capacity. “We’ve outgrown the area,” Moon said.
The district trod a long road full of setbacks before reaching the point now solving many of its facility needs.
The effort began when the district placed a proposal on the ballot in December 2005 to issue bonds for construction of an elementary school. Voters narrowly defeated the proposition with 256 opposed votes and 245 in favor.
“The first time, we thought sure it would pass because everybody knows how crowded it is and the traffic is horrible,” Moon said. “The next time, it really failed.”
When the new elementary school proposal was placed on the ballot the second time in May 2006, it was defeated with 440 votes in opposition and 238 in favor.
Making a third pitch, the district placed a bond proposal on the ballot in November 2007 to fund construction of a high school. Voters defeated it with a vote of 454 against and 430 in favor.
But in 2009 on the district’s fourth try to meet facility needs, voters approved a $16 million bond issue for a high school, with 633 votes for and 365 opposed. The district allocated another $3 million out of its fund balance to help pay for the $19 million structure, the superintendent said.
For the average homeowner, school taxes rose $8.71 a month when the district raised the tax rate 19 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation for debt service to pay off the 30-year bonds.
“The school board has worked hard and the community has worked hard to get this passed … we’ve tried to keep everyone involved all through the planning process,” Moon said.
The maximum capacity of the new high school is 600 —about double the current enrollment. “We built for growth and one side can be added on to in future years,” Moon said.
The new high school is scheduled to be finished in time for start of school this fall. However, students may be bused to the old campus the first week for athletics while the gymnasium is completed, Moon said.
The new structure has 35 classrooms, compared to 20 in the old high school. All of the classrooms have smart boards and lots of technology, Moon said.
“Science labs are fabulous. They have an area for projects and a classroom and between science labs are prep rooms for teachers to ready chemicals,” Moon said.
The cafetorium will offer mall-type choices, such as areas for sandwiches, chicken and pizza/pasta, instead of students going through a line waiting to be served.
The gymnasium will seat 1,200 people — 400 in pull-out bleachers on the visitors’ side and 800 in stadium seating on the home side. The school will have a weight room, Moon said, and plenty of dressing rooms for junior varsity and varsity boys and girls’ sports, as well as physical education dressing rooms.
The new ag shop has two classrooms, an office area and dressing rooms for boys and girls, while the art classroom has a kiln and storage area.
The library can be used for evening events, such as school board meetings, without attendees having access to the rest of the building. There’s a parking lot behind the school for the library. Nearby are restrooms, picnic tables and areas where students can relax.
The library is bigger than the old library and will have capability for students to download electronic books as well as check out traditional books. Inside the library will be a career center run by the counselor, called the “Go Center.”
The new school will be equipped with new furniture and security cameras. As a security measure, all doors will be locked after school starts each day, and people visiting the school will have to go first through the front door and office to reach the rest of the building.
On the drawing board are several other facility improvements in the district’s 10-year master facilities plan.
Those include renovations of the old high school for the middle school and providing a new entry to the middle school, general maintenance, removal of two buildings from the middle school area, construction of a new intermediate classroom building, construction of 10 elementary classrooms and eventually construction of a middle school at the high school site, along with a athletic complex.
When the new elementary school proposal was placed on the ballot the second time in May 2006, it was defeated with 440 votes in opposition and 238 in favor.
Making a third pitch, the district placed a bond proposal on the ballot in November 2007 to fund construction of a high school. Voters defeated it with a vote of 454 against and 430 in favor.
But in 2009 on the district’s fourth try to meet facility needs, voters approved a $16 million bond issue for a high school, with 633 votes for and 365 opposed. The district allocated another $3 million out of its fund balance to help pay for the $19 million structure, the superintendent said.
For the average homeowner, school taxes rose $8.71 a month when the district raised the tax rate 19 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation for debt service to pay off the 30-year bonds.
“The school board has worked hard and the community has worked hard to get this passed … we’ve tried to keep everyone involved all through the planning process,” Moon said.
The maximum capacity of the new high school is 600 —about double the current enrollment. “We built for growth and one side can be added on to in future years,” Moon said.
The new high school is scheduled to be finished in time for start of school this fall. However, students may be bused to the old campus the first week for athletics while the gymnasium is completed, Moon said.
The new structure has 35 classrooms, compared to 20 in the old high school. All of the classrooms have smart boards and lots of technology, Moon said.
“Science labs are fabulous. They have an area for projects and a classroom and between science labs are prep rooms for teachers to ready chemicals,” Moon said.
The cafetorium will offer mall-type choices, such as areas for sandwiches, chicken and pizza/pasta, instead of students going through a line waiting to be served.
The gymnasium will seat 1,200 people — 400 in pull-out bleachers on the visitors’ side and 800 in stadium seating on the home side. The school will have a weight room, Moon said, and plenty of dressing rooms for junior varsity and varsity boys and girls’ sports, as well as physical education dressing rooms.
The new ag shop has two classrooms, an office area and dressing rooms for boys and girls, while the art classroom has a kiln and storage area.
The library can be used for evening events, such as school board meetings, without attendees having access to the rest of the building. There’s a parking lot behind the school for the library. Nearby are restrooms, picnic tables and areas where students can relax.
The library is bigger than the old library and will have capability for students to download electronic books as well as check out traditional books. Inside the library will be a career center run by the counselor, called the “Go Center.”
The new school will be equipped with new furniture and security cameras. As a security measure, all doors will be locked after school starts each day, and people visiting the school will have to go first through the front door and office to reach the rest of the building.
On the drawing board are several other facility improvements in the district’s 10-year master facilities plan.
Those include renovations of the old high school for the middle school and providing a new entry to the middle school, general maintenance, removal of two buildings from the middle school area, construction of a new intermediate classroom building, construction of 10 elementary classrooms and eventually construction of a middle school at the high school site, along with a athletic complex.
