“Each of you can be proud of the community driven and collaborative process that we have engaged in over the these last three years,” stated Culp. “I feel confident that my recommendation accomplishes our collective objective of addressing the short and long term fiscal health of the district as well as meet the educational objectives to support our mission to maximize and personalize every student’s learning for decades to come.”
An independent analysis of the current school buildings showed that it would cost $44.5 million just to address current deferred maintenance issues with the school buildings - an amount that will increase by $2.2 million each year based on the industry standard for inflation. This amount far exceeds the current permanent improvement fund to address the district’s existing deferred maintenance.
“This is a staggering amount considering our $18 million annual operating budget and $540,000 permanent improvement fund budget,” stated Culp.
The Facility Plan recommends that the Board of Education consider renovating Stevenson Elementary and Grandview Heights High School and building a new school for students in grades 4-8 located on or near the same site that Edison Intermediate/Larson Middle School currently sits, at a potential cost of $45-50 million. This estimated amount could change based on the selection of materials and inflation. Culp’s recommendation also includes an additional $2 million in recommended renovations to current K-12 community and district athletic facilities north of Grandview High School, which would include a combination of new builds and repairs to locker rooms and restrooms, renovating the home stands, and adding ADA compliant access and seating to home and visiting stands.
“I want to thank the board of education for their leadership and support throughout this entire facility planning process,” added Culp. “I know that this process has presented several challenges as well as opportunities. I believe this is the right thing to do in addressing our district’s short and long term fiscal health and will provide up-to-date schools so that our students remain competitive in today’s world.”
Next steps in the process include the Board of Education, Superintendent, and Treasurer collecting additional data and offering community engagement opportunities to discuss potential funding options. As part of this work, a group of community volunteers will serve on a Financial Advisory Committee (FAC), which will assist in making recommendations to the Board regarding both funding the facility plan and a possible operating levy, phasing of the recommendation, swing space, and evaluation of our existing Permanent Improvement levy. Based on the FAC recommendations, the Board will consider whether or not to place a levy on the November 2018 ballot.
To learn more, please see the attached Facility Planning Recommendation to the Board of Education Executive Summary and the powerpoint presentation. A video of the presentation can be found here
For more information or questions regarding the Facility Planning Process, visit www.ghcsd.org or email [email protected].