Survey shows NCSD faculty input on master planning and facility assessments

Teachers are split over how the Newton Community School District should proceed with its master plan to downsize its facilities, a move that administrators say is supposed to reduce overall spending in the coming years, and if left unaddressed will have major consequences on the community.

Results from a survey shared at the March 20 school board meeting show how district staff feel about the proposed master planning scenarios created by a committee of community leaders after in-depth discussions facilitated by FRK Architects and Engineers late last year.

Here are the scenarios the master planning committee came up with:

• Scenario No. 1: Construct a new grades 1-4 elementary school at Thomas Jefferson or Aurora Heights site and demolish original buildings, selling Woodrow Wilson Elementary site for development and add and remodel Emerson Hough for a pre-K and kindergarten center. This scenario costs more than $40 million.

• Scenario No. 2: Add and remodel Emerson Hough for pre-K-1st grade center, add onto and remodel Thomas Jefferson Elementary into a nine-section grades 2-4 building and then sell the remaining sites for redevelopment. This scenario costs more than $20 million.

• Scenario No. 3: Build a new pre-K-1st grade center at Woodrow Wilson site, repurpose Berg Middle school into a grades 2-6 center, add a new grades 7-8 center to the high school and then sell the remaining sites for redevelopment. This scenario is estimated to cost about $40 million.

According to survey results provided by superintendent Tom Messinger, many faculty members are against Scenario No. 3 and are more open to the other options. The district collected a total of 198 responses; about 184 were made by full-time staff, 13 were part-time and one was not employed by the district.

Scenario No. 1: Prek-kindergarten center and new 1-4 elementary

NCSD asks: How will the grade-level transitions of this scenario affect the continuity of the educational process for students?

Staff response: 29 percent of responses were positive, 27 percent were negative, 24 percent were neutral and 18 percent do not know.

NCSD asks: What effect will the grade-level centers have on the coordination of grade-level curriculum?

Staff response: 45 percent of responses were positive, 27 percent were neutral, 15 percent do not know and 11 percent were negative.

NCSD asks: Will the grade-level centers help in providing a unified cultural experience for students in the district?

Staff response: 40 percent of responses were positive, 20 percent were neutral, 20 percent were negative and 18 percent do not know.

Scenario No. 2: Prek-1 center and renovated 2-4 elementary

NCSD asks: How will the grade-level transitions of this scenario affect the continuity of the educational process for students?

Staff response: 30 percent of responses are positive, 30 percent are neutral, 26 percent are negative and 13 percent do not know.

NCSD asks: What effect will the grade-level centers have on the coordination of grade-level curriculum?

Staff response: 41 percent of responses were positive, 30 percent were neutral, 15 percent were negative and 12 percent do not know.

NCSD asks: Will the grade-level centers help in providing a unified cultural experience for students in the district?

Staff response: 34 percent of responses were positive, 27 percent were neutral, 19 percent were negative and 18 percent do not know.

Scenario No. 3: Prek-1 center, makes Berg a 2-6 center, 7-8 go to high school

NCSD asks: How will the grade-level transitions of this scenario affect the continuity of the educational process for students?

Staff response: 45 percent of responses were negative, 25 percent were positive, 16 percent were neutral and 12 percent did not know.

NCSD asks: What effect will the grade-level centers have on the coordination of grade-level curriculum?

Staff response: 33 percent of responses were positive, 29 percent were negative, 26 percent were neutral and 8 percent do not know.

NCSD asks: Will the grade-level centers help in providing a unified cultural experience for students in the district?

Staff response: 35 percent of responses were negative, 24 percent were neutral, 23 percent were positive and 16 percent do not know.

In summary, it was clear Scenario No. 3 was the least liked among staff, leaving Scenario No. 1 and Scenario No. 2 as the favorites. Interestingly enough, most staff were positive of the coordination of grade-level curriculum no matter what the scenario.

Several other questions were asked in the survey regarding Newton schools and the district, and the quality or adequacy of education being provided at school facilities. Most of these questions were rated on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest and one being the lowest.

Overall, the adequacy of education was rated between a three and four, as was the adequacy of the facilities. Feelings were mixed over whether the current buildings are capable of meeting future needs to support the region over the next 10 years, but the highest rating was still a three at more than 25 percent.

Other questions asked if the district prepares students to meet future vocational and social challenges and future academic needs.

The majority of answers were rated a three.

However, many staff said they do not know if the district adequately prepares students’ transitions from fourth to fifth grade and from eighth to ninth grade.

Staff were also split on a question that asked if students receive equal or similar educational experiences at each of the elementary schools. About 35 percent said yes, 33 percent said no and 31 percent did not know.

Another set of questions produced some of the most negative results seen in the entire survey, and the topic mainly stemmed from a bond issue.

The district wanted to know what how faculty would believe the community would regard a solution that would change schools to grade-level centers if a bond issue vote were to move forward for school improvements. About 46 percent of survey takers said voters would respond negatively.

Faculty were also asked how the community would think of a bond issue that changed the grade level configuration at Berg Middle School. More than 66 percent said voters would react negatively toward that option, with only 13 percent saying they do not know, 11 percent positive and 7 percent neutral.

In contrast, faculty were asked how the community would regard a bond issue that provides additional activity spaces. More than 42 percent said the community would respond positively, while 21 percent said neutral, 19 percent said negative and 16 percent said they do not know.

SCHOOL BOARD HAS OPTIONS MOVING FORWARD

While the budget does not require a timely solution, the district did provide school board members with options for what their next steps will be. The board could do nothing or ask FRK to develop other options. The board could begin discussions about the options initially presented by FRK a few months ago.

Or the school could take the FRK options to the public for additional input. The committee could also reconvene to go through the staff input to see if it promotes other ideas or thoughts, or reconvene with a staff group. The district indicated it is open to other options presented by board members, as well.

But administrators stressed the board does need to determine a solution. The forecast shows Newton schools will be overspending in the coming years.

“The do nothing option is the most dangerous option that we have,” Messinger said, later adding he does not recommend the school board to do nothing. “…Currently, each of the next four years in this forecast, we are going to be overspending each year.”

Tim Bloom, director of business services, said because of state law the school can only spend so much per pupil. Newton schools, he added, will be at 100 percent of spending next year, then increase to 103 percent, 104 percent, 105 percent and 106 percent each subsequent year.

“At this time we would be at a deficit of $818,000 and then that’s when we would get to go to the school budget review committee and be in trouble with the State of Iowa,” Bloom said to school board members. “The goal is to not exceed our authority and have that go down.”

Roughly 80 percent of the Newton school district budget is made up of salaries and benefits. Even if the school board did decide to do nothing at all with its facilities, the district would still have to reduce spending no matter what. Which, in turn, would create larger class sizes of up to 25 kids per section.

The information shared at the school board meeting was merely to let board members and the public know of the staff feedback. Robyn Friedman, president of the NCSD Board of Education, said the board may host a work session in the near future to discuss their options and then vote on an action item.

“Tonight’s not the night to have that discussion,” she said.