November 28, 2024

School board continues to make progress by removing unsupported scenarios

NCSD master planning discussions continue on with fewer options

The Newton Community School District Board of Education discusses master planning options at the Dec. 11 meeting at E.J.H. Beard Administration Center. The school board was able to remove three out of seven possible options it is considering.

Unlike some previous school board meetings, the meeting held this past week did not last four or five hours, and that was because of a music concert; but despite this the Newton school board made great progress in its master planning discussions and managed to narrow down seven options into four.

Which is largely due to school board vice-president Josh Cantu providing an easy-to-read summary which breaks down every option that has been seriously considered thus far. Included in the document was estimated construction costs, grade sections, grades per building, holds on future improvements, etc.

Much of this data has been provided by the district’s engineering firm FRK Architects + Engineers, but the ease in which school board members — and the public — could view the information through Cantu’s document was refreshing. Even more so when board members began removing options.

Options that would configure Aurora Heights Elementary and Thomas Jefferson Elementary into two preK-4 buildings or one K-4 building and one preK-4 building were swiftly scrapped by the board. Later on the board also removed an option configuring Thomas Jefferson and Emerson Hough into two preK-4 buildings.

Two preK-4 buildings at Aurora Heights and Thomas Jefferson would require a general obligation bond vote to pass, and the board and Newton administrators are not confident it would have the support needed. The total cost would have been $31.9 million, which is not feasible with the district’s $28 million budget.

School board also disliked the class size inequity that would have come from configuring Aurora Heights into a bigger K-4 and keeping Thomas Jefferson the way it is as a preK-4 building. The costs were low, and it was the creative option that made the board give master planning a second look, but it had no support.

Configuring Thomas Jefferson and Emerson Hough into two preK-4 buildings was also seen as unfeasible by the board. In addition to having little support, it would put the school district too close to its revenue bonding capacity at the $27.6 million budget. And it would almost surely require a bond vote.

With those three options out of the way, the school board has four scenarios left. The current plan that was approved in late October in a 4-3 vote is to transform Thomas Jefferson into preK-1 building and Emerson Hough into a grades 2-4 building, costing a manageable $21.1 million.

Another option is similar in its grade configuration, only it affects a different building; Aurora Heights would be chosen as the preK-1 building and Emerson Hough would remain a grades 2-4 building, ultimately costing an estimated $17.4 million. However, the split-grade configuration has been widely criticized.

Of course, there is a feasible preK-4 option, too. At more than $24 million, the district can configure Aurora Heights and Emerson Hough into preK-4 buildings. Which is an option that would likely make the members of the master planning committee happy since they recommended a similar option.

Then there was a new option that was brought before the board, a followup to a request made by board members at the Dec. 4 meeting. With the help of FRK, the board found a way to shave off about $9.8 million in low-priority items from the total costs. These would be identified as future improvements.

With an estimated $22.3 million in total costs (down from $32.1 million), the configuration would make Thomas Jefferson into a K-4 building and Aurora Heights into a preK-4 building. This scenario also manages to keep the grade sections the same at each building and settles the east versus west debate.

The potential downsides to this plan are the improvements that have been left out. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, would lose $3.75 million in interior finishes, $1 million for traffic improvements and more than $372,000 in updates to the interior courtyard. Aurora Heights would also lose building finishes.

Robyn Friedman, president of the school board, commended the progression in this past week’s discussion but she felt it premature to start casting votes. School board members also discussed the potential of keeping Emerson Hough for some other district use after the master planning projects are completed.

School board member Kristi Meyer said whatever building is not used she would like to see it become a preschool building. But she and other school board members also shared concerns about configuring for preschool in other buildings if it will be removed for a singular building later on.

Christopher Braunschweig

Christopher Braunschweig

Christopher Braunschweig has a strong passion for community journalism and covers city council, school board, politics and general news in Newton, Iowa and Jasper County.