Public invited to Monday info session on BVH findings
The Aurora 4R School Board heard a summary review Monday of a facility study conducted as part of a strategic planning initiative to assess the district’s existing facilities, both in terms of physical status as well as how they are aligning with the school’s educational needs.
A detailed study that is already a year and a half into the process took a big step forward in January when BVH Architecture was hired to conduct a detailed facility study. Cleveland Reeves, a principal architect with the firm, spent about an hour Monday reviewing BVH’s initial facility audit findings as well as feedback gathered from school staff members and administrators.
Supt. Jody Phillips said he believes the facility study is part of an exciting process, though noting that difficult decisions lie ahead.
“This is an exciting process because we have the opportunity to address issues and also determine the course and the plan for the future, facility wise, for our school district,” Phillips said. “It’s going to be exciting, but it’s going to be a lot of work trying to get all this figured out. We’re following this process to make sure the community knows that we’re doing it in the smartest way possible, so that nothing is a surprise to them as far as if we ever come to them with a project that we want to do.”
Reeves began by explaining the firm’s process, which utilizes a scorecard for each building based on site visits conducted from January through early March. Good rankings fall between the scores of 90-100, he explained, with fair rankings earning 70-89 scores, poor rankings 50-69 scores, and critical rankings 0-49 scores. He listed the scores for various buildings in the Aurora 4R District as follows: Preschool, 69; elementary, 80.56; middle school, 72.52; high school, 67.88; athletic complex, 84.22; bus barn, 42.25; and maintenance buildings, 43.0.
Reeves then reviewed staff feedback with the board, which was used to determine a score for how well the facilities are aligning with educational needs. Staff members were asked to rank the facilities as far as how they served teaching and learning practices, educational programming fit, safety and security, patron access and support, and their fit for current and projected enrollment. A composite score based on those combined reports listed the preschool at 59.52, the elementary school at 66.95, the middle school at 62.71, the high school at 58.29, the athletic facilities at 72.76, and the bus barn at 42.25.
“I don’t think the facility audit is a surprise to me,” board member Chad Svoboda said.
“I think it mostly aligned with what I would expect,” added board member Brock Wyatt. “It was maybe a tad more negative than what I would have guessed, but it wasn’t far off. I knew the high school would be low, because just visually walking through you can see it.”
Phillips noted that the staff and community are invited to hear the same preliminary report from BVH on Monday. Staff members will hear the presentation Monday afternoon, with a session planned for 6 p.m. at the middle school theater which is open to the public.
“Anybody who wants to come can listen to basically where we’re at in the process and what they have found,” Phillips said. “We just want to inform them where we’re at up to this point.”
Master planning process
After presenting the audit findings, Reeves then started to explain how the master planning process will move forward, based on the board and community’s feedback.
“So based on what we hear from you tonight, and from the community next week, we will start explaining how we can get all of these facilities where they need to be,” he said. “Out of that there could be another session or two, and then we dive in and really look at options with the group, like the board, maybe some administrators, whatever makes sense for the school here, and ultimately we get to the point where we’re determining what are the needs and what are the priorities that are going to rise to the top.
“With every school I’ve ever worked with there are always more needs than there are dollars to satisfy the needs,” Reeves continued, “so priorities are always going to be part of the conversation. That’s where we come back to a lot of the questions you’ve been asking, like what do we have to do that’s absolutely critical.”
At some point soon, Reeves said, the discussion will lead to a number involving a proposed school construction and/or renovation project.
“I think from the scores we’re seeing it’s going to be a substantial number,” he advised. “I’m sure you are all aware of what construction budgets have been lately. It’s not been pretty over the last couple of years, but the good news, or silver lining, is that inflation is settling down, or back into the 3 or 4 percent (range), instead of the 10 to 20 percent that we saw a few years ago. But it’s still a bigger number than we’d like to see.”
Reeves then asked the board for input, drawing questions about facility capacity.
“I’d certainly like our buildings to be at 90 percent, but if we’re at 100 percent capacity there’s no room for growth,” Wyatt said. “We’re going to need to build some capacity, probably. How do we best do that with the dollars that we’re going to have available?”
“That’s part of that study,” Reeves responded. “You only have so much site to work with, though you’re better off than some districts we’ve worked with for sure. We can work with your administrators especially and figure out what spaces are overburdened right now and what programs do you want to offer. There are often conversations that come up in that mix and then what’s that sweet spot, knowing that your enrollment data shows 4 percent growth (over the past decade).”
Reeves pointed out that the conversation about building new or renovating may be more relevant when it comes to reviewing the high school facilities.
“I think that will be a big topic of conversation as to what does that look like,” he said. “Monetarily speaking, what does a tear down and build new versus renovation look like, given that we have all the appropriate space that we need?”
Phillips also pointed out that the master plan should consider the district’s needs now just for the present, but for well into the future.
“I think our last substantial work that was done was back in 1975 with that bond issue,” he said, referring to the middle school construction project which included the sports complex and theater. “There has been other work since, but nothing substantial, so you’re looking at 45 years and by the time we get into whatever process we’re going to get into that’s 50 years. I think the focus needs to be what can we do now that literally sets us up for the next 50 years. I just think that needs to be discussed.”
Phillips recalled walking through the buildings with one of the BVH engineers on the first day of the facility assessment, and asking him what he thought.
“I just stopped him and said okay, you’ve been through half of them. Is this a bulldozer project or not? And he said, ’No.’ We need to be glad for what we have, the facilities that were built back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, because if you look at the new buildings that are being built right now they don’t look like these buildings.
“So, between the educational alignment and meeting the needs, whether it be curriculum, flow and all that, updating, whether it be electrical, mechanical systems and all that, I do think we’re not in grave danger,” Phillips added. “But I also think there are some things that will become grave if we don’t address them and address them in somewhat of a timely manner.”
One of the concern areas noted by numerous staff members was the existing key fobs, which often don’t work properly, making it difficult for staff members to get into the building or into their rooms in a timely manner. Phillips said some decisions like that have been postponed, pending the results of this study.
“Since I’ve been here I’ve heard about the fobs,” he said. “And I agree with every single person who has problems with the fobs because they’re not good or dependable. It’s not a good system to have, but I didn’t want to make changes to those if we were going to do some other work that would require something with electronic systems of door openings and all that stuff.”
It was estimated that updating the fob key system throughout the district, which involves every interior and exterior door, would cost more than $100,000.
At the end of Monday’s 2-1/2 hour meeting, Phillips suggested the board go into executive session to discuss the possible negotiations of an agreement for the district to purchase real estate. After that closed-door meeting, Phillips reported he is not allowed to discuss the location or terms of property being negotiated, but did say it is not related to the facility study.
Other business:
In other business during Monday’s regular monthly meeting, the board:
* heard a preliminary update from Jessica Block, special education director, who reported that the Head Start program in Aurora will be closing; (Watch for additional information on that development in next week’s ANR.)
* accepted the resignation of Barb Bonifas, a 22-year member of the staff who currently serves as a part-time high school counselor;
* accepted the resignation of Lydia Behnk as a business, marketing and information technology teacher;
* approved the hiring of James McCartney as a new business, marketing and information technology teacher for the 2024-25 school year;
* approved the hiring of Kailey LeNormand of Texas as a middle school special education teacher for the 2024-25 school year;
* approved the $1,247 purchase of an electronic point of sale (POS) system to help with Dog Pound Design t-shirt sales. The system will be analyzed for possible expansion into other areas, including activities, concessions, etc.;
* approved a classified staff salary adjustment to reflect a raise and offering a full, single insurance package to all classified staff members, representing a 6.59 percent increase;
* approved a 2024-25 special education contract with ESU 9 for the cost of $41,000 for birth to age 5, and $106,000 for school-age kids;
* heard a report from Paige McQuiston regarding her first year of work as the district’s student and family liaison;
* heard a legislative update from Phillips, who said he will be watching the Nebraska Legislature closely this week to monitor education-related bills in the final days of the 2024 session;
* approved the 2024-25 preschool calendar, noting that each session will be increased by 15 minutes per day, with the year to start Aug. 22 and end May 20.