When are you hoping to have a decision made?

July 13, 2015

When would/could a new building be ready for student use?

The probable completion date would be December 2017.  This means the current facility would remain a 5-8 building for both the upcoming 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years and half of the 2017-2018 school year.

Why was putting on a new addition at the high school given precedent knowing enrollment concerns 2-3 years ago?

Safety was the #1 reason.  The high school building, as currently laid out, can not be secured as needed.  The new addition provides a visible front entrance that will allow the building to be made secure for students, staff and visitors.  
 

The HS building was also cited by the fire marshall in the last two visits for having equipment and supplies located in the hallways, created obstructions to traffic flow.  The remodeling project provides for appropriate storage space for athletic equipment.
 

The school board decided to address this safety need quickly through sales tax money rather than making it part of a much bigger building project that takes much longer to plan and complete.

How do we solve the short-term middle school problem for the next two years?

The best short-term solution will be to place a portable classroom in the middle school parking lot, which will be installed in July 2015.

How will the district communicate with stakeholders throughout the process?

We will do our best to share information openly and to be very transparent.  Anyone with questions or concerns regarding this issue may call me at school (338-4757), e-mail (gjanssen@okoboji.k12.ia.us) or stop in to visit at the Okoboji Community School Central Office, 1205 7th Street, Milford, Iowa.

Why did the district not deal with the enrollment issue until now?

The middle school issue could not be dealt with until Polaris made a commitment to Milford, as future employment is the most accurate factor for determining enrollment projections.  Polaris recently made a commitment to using the Milford plant and is expanding at a rapid pace.
 

Ten classrooms were added to the elementary building 3 years ago to allow for the larger classes. This project was completed 100% through sales tax money (no property taxes used). Expanding the MS facility is the next step in upgrading the district facilities.

Could people who live North of Okoboji Middle School now enroll kids in Spirit Lake?

Yes, but only through open enrollment.  During the 2014-15 school year, we had 103 students open enroll into Okoboji and 87 students open enroll out of Okoboji.

How many students open enrolled out to Spirit Lake? What percentage of families north of OMS already open enroll out to Spirit Lake? Would we lose more students?

During the 2014-15 school year, we had 56 Okoboji resident students open enroll out to Spirit lake and 42 Spirit Lake resident students open enroll into Okoboji

Will Arnolds Park students open enroll out if there is no longer a building in the community? Will that have an impact on the overall enrollment projections?

We don’t expect the 78 of 887 resident Okoboji students living in Arnolds Park to open enroll out of the district if the middle school is no longer located in Arnolds Park.  

Will the current OMS be more attractive to this group of parents than a new 5-8 middle school in Milford?

Based on conversations with parents of Arnolds Park students, a spacious new 5-8 middle school in Milford would be much more attractive than a small, overcrowded facility closer to home. The same holds true for new families moving to the lakes area.

Do school district boundaries need to be adjusted? Perhaps that should be done first before building a new building? For example, Terril is small, so we could likely expand even more. Any consideration to Terril and what their situation is? Could we gain from working toward this? Could we give a better opportunity to the Terril students?

Adjusting district boundaries as a way to reduce enrollment at the middle school as suggested by members of the Dickinson County Taxpayers Association in not a positive solution.  We are not going to address our enrollment concerns by trying to send some of our students to neighboring districts.  This is not an option and will not be considered.

Terril was not approached simply because the district just reorganized two years ago to form the GT/RA district.

Key Points to keep in mind: 1. Discussions of options have been “program focused”...how do we best cover core classes and all special areas such as art, music, athletics, etc. 2. Work completed on all facilities needs to be completed with “permanency” in mind, meeting the long-term needs of the district. 3. Efficiency in operations and programming is just as important as up-front construction costs. Long-term recurring costs to the general fund need to be considered. Answer the question, “how far will recurring costs go toward new construction?”

Does the current middle school have to be just a 5-8 building or can it be used for other grades? And, with the elementary possibly running out of space in coming years, can the current MS facility be used for grades 4-5-6 only (may allow for more recess space)?

The middle school doesn’t need to be just a 5-8 building.  Grades can be re-aligned but none of the options (i.e.: build new 7-8 at HS and keep 5-6 at MS, keep 6-7-8 at MS and move 5th to elementary, etc.) will work as well as our current arrangement because our district with roughly 1000 students in grades PK through 12 works most efficiently with staffing programs as three equal-sized buildings (PK-4, 5-8, and 9-12).

Making the facility anything other than a 5-8 complex would involve significant annual/recurring general fund expenses. Examples include:

• Cost of Wasted Instructional Time:  Several staff members would have to work in more than one building.  Providing 30 minutes of travel time for 10 teachers to travel back and forth between buildings every day would cost $41,810 per year. Having support staff such as counselors work in two buildings is also not good for students.

• Hire Additional Staff:  Two extra teachers will have to be hired to cover some areas where teachers can not work in 2 buildings.  That expense would be approximately $133,794 (ave. teacher salary = $66,897).  Another middle school secretary and library/media associate may also have to be hired to cover a 7-8 or 6-8 middle school at the high school complex ($25,000).  

• The total cost of wasted instructional time and hiring additional staff would be about $200,604/year ($41,810 + $133,794 + $25,000 = $200,604).  

• $2,006,040 over 10 years could be spent in much better ways to support student learning.

• Travel Expenses:  Travel Reimbursement (.39/mile per master contract) for those 10 teachers would be an additional $2,500 per year.  

• Build Additional Classrooms:  Extra classrooms would have to be built to accommodate students.  For example, if grades 7 and 8 are moved to the high school complex, another art room would have to be built because the current HS art room is used every period of the school day.  Note: This would be an extra SILO/PPEL expense, not a recurring general fund expense (900 sq. ft. x $160 = $144,000 per classroom).

Towns don’t want to lose identity, but with the towns combined anyhow, Arnolds Park wouldn’t really suffer from that issue.

Arnolds Park city officials are not concerned with the community losing identity, no matter how the facility is used in the future.

What could be the future benefits of keeping ownership of the building in AP?

Keeping the building would provide the district with a place for future enrollment increases.  However, the elementary building is big enough to handle 4 sections for several years (10 years if our enrollment increases 3% in all grades every year).  We would need to have about 100 students per grade before considering going to 5 sections (current average elementary class size is 77)...(77 equals 4 sections/classes of 19).

Keeping the current MS building would also allow the district to pursue adding additional programs (i.e.: shared technology-based or vocational program with neighboring districts).

How much remodeling would need to happen and actual cost to continue using MS as needed?

The old/original part of the building needs to be remodeled to better meet student needs (i.e.: replace student lockers, doors, etc., build a science lab, remodel the S.C.I. special education classroom, etc.).  If the oldest section of the MS is remodeled, all changes would have to be made to meet current code requirements (handicap accessibility, fire safety, etc.), which is very expensive.  Remodeling old buildings costs more than building new. Making significant changes to the current building would not be practical because the district could get more per dollar by building new than by remodeling.

Based on a facility study conducted in 2010, the cost to replace the current inefficient heating, cooling, temperature control and clock/program systems to more energy efficient systems would cost $2,470,250.  

Based on a 2014 inspection of the roof, a 10,000 square foot section of the building is in “poor” condition and will need to be replaced in 3-5 years ($80,000 estimated 2014 cost).  Another large section of the roof was reported in “fair” condition, needing to be replaced in 5-7 years.  The rest of the roof is in good shape.

The brick exterior is in excellent condition; tuckpointing was completed during the summer, 2013.  Most exterior doors and windows are also in good condition.

Would it be feasible to use AP as another elementary?

Using the MS in AP as an elementary building but involve significant annual general fund costs (transporting students, staff traveling back and forth between buildings, etc.).

We also need to remember one of the main drawbacks to the current middle school facility is the lack of green space for recess.  In order to provide a safe area for recess or PE use, the current parking lot would need to be used (“fenced off”), which would then create a bigger parking problem.

With 82% of the district’s students living in the Milford area, transporting elementary students to and from AP each day would not be practical.

How much does the district spend on Transportation every year?

During the 2013-14 school year, Okoboji spent $454,820 on transportation.  This huge expenditure makes it important for the district to be as efficient as possible in this area. Transportation is one topic the school board will discuss when deciding how to address the middle school facility issue.  

19,120 miles were put on school busses last year transporting students back and forth from the middle school for various reasons at a total cost of approximately $72,832.  This is an annual recurring expense that could be utilized in much better ways for educating students.  

Last year, students in grades 5 through 8 were transported for the following:

• Transporting students to the middle school before school and picking them up after school each day.

• Transporting 8th grade students back to the middle school after 1st period exploratory classes at the high school.

• Transporting students back to Milford at 4:00 for the after-school academic assistance program.

• Transporting students to and from the middle school and high school for music programs, assemblies, etc.

• Transporting 7th and 8th grade students from the middle school to the high school for athletic practices.

Why doesn’t the school build into the parking lot area at the Arnolds Park site?

Adding onto the current middle school building in the parking lot would be a possible solution for solving the issue of overcrowding in the building and for creating playground space for students but would create a much worse parking concern for both the school and the community.  By eliminating the current parking lot, adjoining property would have to be purchased for making another parking lot.  The current MS site is “landlocked”; therefore, adding onto the building in the parking lot area is not a good option.

Who owns the parking lot east of the middle school in Arnolds Park?

The school district owns the parking lot, but it is also used as “community parking lot” for neighboring businesses.  The current parking is already much too small and that space can not be made smaller or eliminated.

What are the demographics of our students (how many students walk to school, bused, drop off?)?

During the 2013-14 school year, the “average number of students transported” on a bus each day was 587.  In other words, about 60% of our students rode a bus to or from school every day.  Based on the district’s total transportation costs, the “average cost per pupil transported” was $529.77.

If a new middle school is built next to the high school, would we have just one entrance or two separate entrances and how would you deal with traffic on H Avenue?

Several people expressed the desire to keep middle school and high school students separated as much as possible, and to maintain separate facilities/programs rather than to allow 5-12 students to co-mingle in one facility.  School officials support that position.  If a new middle school is built on the high school site, a separate driveway will need to be created to divert traffic away from H Avenue on the east side of the high school.

Have there been any thoughts to build a new high school rather than a new middle school?

Yes.  However, many people feel building a new high school sends a message that high school students are more important than middle school students.  The current high school building is meeting the needs of students in grades 9-12 but the middle school building is not meeting student needs in grades 5-8.

Does the state have any say in what we decide to do with the middle school (remodel vs. building new, location of buildings, etc.)?

No, all facility improvements are local district decisions.  For big issues like constructing new buildings, school boards are responsible for making recommendations and patrons then vote on those recommendations.  So, ultimately this decision will be made by Okoboji patrons.

Can parents and staff do site visits to get ideas for best options and designs? Is a swimming pool included in the new plan?

Yes.  Site visits were conducted after the best option for our programs was selected.  The architects met with various focus groups as building plans were developed. Our design team, consisting of administrators, teachers and community members, visited eight new area middle schools to gain perspective on design trends. All patrons are encouraged to visit the current middle school to become familiar with what programs are offered and what type of facility is needed.

Would building somewhere else (like Fostoria) be less expensive?

Possibly, but facilities need to be located close to where the majority of the students live. 82% of our students come from the Milford area; therefore, the logical location for a new middle school is Milford.  Recurring transportation costs can be greatly reduced by placing buildings close to where students reside.