Summer of reconfiguration could be chance to make interior upgrades

There will be tons of supplies and equipment moved between schools when the Newton Community School District reconfigures its elementary schools.

Even though some recent NCSD board of education discussions have called into question whether the district has done enough in preparation for the transition to take place next summer, or if it should be postponed, one thing remains certain: creating environments for four K-4 schools and a grades 5-6 “Berg Intermediate School” is a complex, large-scale project.

That’s why the district’s maintenance supervisor, Jack Suttek, came up with a proposed timeline of events that need to take place over a summer in order to get the district’s furniture, books, electronics and many other items into the proper buildings in a timely manner.

Suttek presented the proposal in an Oct. 19 NCSD board work session. While the board hasn’t voted on the plan, it was the first time it had publicly heard a list of the thousands of preparations and procedures needed to move everyone and everything around.

“I want to be prepared ahead of time so that we don’t get to May, and say, for example, ‘Oh, we have to rent some trucks, and no one has any,’” Suttek said.

Suttek was at the session to unveil a proposed timeline of renconfiguration facilities-related tasks that must be completed, such as moving furniture, teaching and student supplies, painting and much more.

One of Suttek’s many enormous tasks will be to get each teacher’s supplies shrink-wrapped and moved on pallets. Suttek’s lengthy description of that task alone let the board know there will be a ton of moving going on next summer — in many directions.

Board member Donna Cook said she’d like to see an itemized cost estimate — by building — of what it will take to move everyone around. Suttek said he can do that, although some general costs will not really be building specific.

Cook also said she might be able to help Suttek get in touch with the proper personnel at the Newton Correctional Facility, regarding using offenders as labor to help with the move. That will cut the cost of labor during the move; Suttek mentioned the temporary labor agency Manpower would be the “back-up plan.”

Some of the costs that occur during reconfiguration will be incidental, and not much different from some of the shuffling and repairs that take place in any given summer. Suttek sees the opportunity to paint some rooms that will be empty during the move — perhaps painting in age-group-targeted color schemes.

“Some of those rooms haven’t been painted since I, or even my predecessor, came on board,” Suttek said.

Suttek’s proposed timeline calls for moving supplies to be delivered to schools in May before classes end, for teachers and other staff to moved out of schools in early June prior to cleaning, painting and moving in to be completed by about July 15. All buildings would be ready for school by Aug. 1.

When asked how much each staff member should be involved in moving supplies, Suttek didn’t make it sound as if participation should be required.

“I suspect some will want to jump right in, and others will want to completely walk away and let us deal with it,” Suttek said.

There might need to be plumbing or other fixture changes at each school; Suttek plans to meet with staff at each campus and determine needs to create four K-4 campuses (all with a target enrollment of 275) and suit the “elementary” half of the Berg Complex for grades 5-6. The Berg change will be among the biggest, as it will go from grades K-3 to grades 5-6.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School is receiving the least age-group modification, switching from K-3 to K-4, though it will take on the preschool as well. Woodrow Wilson Elementary School will need to house all of its kindergartners and first-graders on its first floor, as students in those grades are not allowed to climb stairs in the course of a regular school day.

Moving the supplies of teachers and other staff is serious business — but Suttek has his own humorous way of describing certain student needs.

“The older kids might use a playground, but those kids won’t need any of those little ‘whirly’ things,” he said.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com