By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Voters will be heading to the polls in February to decided if the Niles Community Schools should build a new high school.
At Monday evenings Niles Community Schools Board of Education meeting, the board approved a proposal, brought forth by the steering committee, to build a new high school - to the tune of $108 million.
The ballot would ask voters to approve a 7 mils - about a $1 a day - tax increase for homeowners.
Upon approval from the state of Michigan, voters would address the measure at the polls on Feb. 28, 2006.
The recommendation came from five months of work the steering committee performed, studying information from architectural firm Tower Pinkster Titus of Grand Rapids, community forums and a community survey.
The facilities study showed the district's buildings to be old and increasingly more difficult and expensive to maintain.
Doug Law, superintendent of the Niles Community Schools, added that the district is facing a long dark tunnel with no light at the end, in terms of the maintenance on the buildings.
He stressed that if the voters don't take action in the near future, the maintenance costs will drive the district into even bigger budget problems.
The facilities study also showed the following:
The need to close four of the district's buildings - Cedar Lane alternative education building, Eastside School, Westside administration and adult education building and James Ellis Elementary School.
Mechanical systems in all the buildings need replacing.
All the buildings need safety and security improvements.
The plumbing is decaying.
Windows need to be replaced with more energy-efficient ones.
Lighting needs to be upgraded.
The electrical and technology infrastructure is a patchwork which is unreliable. After looking at all these factors, the steering committee felt the best course of action is to build Niles a new high school.
After the building closures, students in those buildings would be relocated. And major renovations would be made to Southside special education building, Ring Lardner Middle School, Ballard Elementary School and the existing high school. Additions and major renovations would be done to Howard Elementary and Northside Early Childhood Development Center.
Another option considered by the committee was to fix all the current buildings, which would cost $68 million. Or the district could build a new elementary school, close four buildings and renovate the remaining buildings, which would cost $88 million.
The amount voters would be asked to approve on each of these scenarios would be 7 mils.
Law added that the only difference between the three scenarios is the amount of time in which it takes for the mils to level off. The plan is for construction of the new high school to begin in 2007, as it takes one year for the design process.
After the new building is completed and students are able to begin attending classes there, the old high school would be renovated. Upon its competition, it would house the sixth, seventh and eighth grade students and the district's administrative offices.
At this point Howard, Ring Lardner, Ballard and Northside would all be renovated, with the entire project being completed in 2011.
The goal of the group is to do as much of the renovations while the students aren't in the buildings. But in some cases, students would be in buildings during renovations, according to the plan.
The proposal would reduce the number of buildings in the district from 11 to eight, with several programs being consolidated into the same building for maximum savings.
The district would also become more energy efficient with the upgrading of the mechanical systems and replacement of the windows. In doing so, an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 would be saved annually.
In total, between the savings in energy and maintenance, the district would experience a savings in the range of $350,000 per year in operational costs, Law said.
Hoppstock added that if you build a new high school you wouldn't be singling out a specific group of students, eventually they would all travel through the building.
Former school board member Pat Brandstatter told the audience that one of the dilemmas the steering committee faced is not always seeing the problems the district has.
He went on to say that there were many discussions between the members of the committee and Tower Pinkster Titus and Owen Ames Kimball, the construction firm working with the district, on the matter of what would best suit the district.
He admitted that not everyone in the group agreed with the final proposal, but when it came down to it they all knew what the right answer to the problem was.
Ezell closed the groups presentation by saying it will likely be an uphill battle for the bond issue campaign committee, whose job it will be to educate the public on why they should vote to build a new high school.