Wednesday, March 17, 2004
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004 |
| 3,000 empty seats vs. school bond By J. FRANK LYNCH The Fayette County School System, which prides itself on staying one step ahead of state requirements on everything from teacher-student ratios to buying new buses, finds itself in unfamiliar territory as construction on Whitewater High School winds down: An abundance of empty desks. And it comes just as the Board of Education is being asked to consider putting another tax initiative, either a bond referendum or an extra penny sales tax (SPLOST), before voters this November to fund more construction. The $25 million Whitewater High nearing completion off Ga. Highway 85 South at Goza Road represents the final project in the district’s most recent five-year facilities expansion. It was funded by a bond referendum approved by voters in 2000. For nearly 20 years, the conclusion of each five-year building program has meant the logical start of another one, a sure and steady approach to building new schools that saw Fayette County double its facilities in just 10 years, said Facilities Services Director Mike Satterfield. A full-time construction supervisor, Klaus Darnell, works in Satterfield’s department just to manage such projects. When Whitewater High welcomes ninth and tenth graders in August, the total square footage of county school buildings will reach 3.6 million, up from just 1.8 million square feet in 1994, Satterfield said. And except for one clear area of need in the middle school grades, 3.6 million square feet might be enough for the time being, suggest some members of the Board of Education who are questioning the next set of priorities given them. According to figures provided by Planning Director Jerry Whitaker to board members at their annual retreat in January, Fayette County Schools had room for 3,800 more students in December when the full 1,500-student capacity of Whitewater High was considered. Even accounting for average growth in enrollment of about 700 students per year, Fayette schools could be more than 3,000 seats under capacity when school starts back in August, according to Whitaker’s estimate, representing about 14 percent of the total current estimated enrollment of 21,200. Whitaker came up with those numbers using December 2003 enrollment figures and the official capacity of each school campus as determined by a facilities audit, also conducted in December. According to the current enrollment figures, just five county schools are over capacity, and just two of those could be called “critically” overcrowded. The five include: • Peeples Elementary, which at 81 students above its designed capacity represents the only overcrowded school among Fayette’s 17 elementary schools. • Rising Starr Middle School, where 16 classroom trailers are in use to house 197 students above the intended capacity of 962. Relieving Rising Starr is the top priority in early drafts of the next building program. • Whitewater Middle School, which got a new classroom wing in the construction program about to conclude, but remains 44 students over capacity largely due to redistricting related to the nearby high school. • Starr’s Mill High, which exceeded its ideal capacity by just 16 students in December. Growth at Whitewater High is expected to keep Starr’s Mill totals steady for the next couple of years. • Fayette County High, where December’s enrollment of 2,002 students, about 215 above design, seems a relief compared to last year, when the school housed nearly 2,300 students. The totals at FCHS are also forecast to slide steadily down, since Whitewater High draws most of its student body from former FCHS attendance zones south of Fayetteville. But also included in Whitaker’s review were worse-case projections based on the potential enrollment if all of the building lots now zoned for single-family residential throughout the county are developed, which is a likely eventuality. Though there’s no way to declare for sure when that growth will occur, Whitaker’s formula conservatively suggests another 7,140 students will be added within the next 10 years, or enough to require a sixth high school. Land for that school was purchased by the Board of Education in 2002, not far from where it intends to build a sixth middle school. In January, Satterfield suggested a new middle school adjacent to Cleveland Elementary off Lester Road is the district’s top priority, along with additions to Rising Starr Middle School. Also included in the earliest recommendation were three brand new elementary schools: One in the West Village area of Peachtree City, one near Tyrone, and another in the south-central portion of the county, to relieve Peeples. The middle school remains at the top of any needs list, Satterfield told board members this week, but facilities planners have backed off on the immediate need for more elementary schools. Of the nine schools that were at least 100 or more students under capacity in December, three had more than 250 empty seats, brand-new Crabapple Lane had room for 336 more students, and Cleveland Elementary remains less than half full, with space for another 428 young charges. The latest priority list of needs, which Satterfield said was still being fine-tuned Monday afternoon, includes a new middle school at No. 2 on the list, just behind energy management updates to McIntosh High. In fact, the unofficial list presented to school board members Monday suggests making nearly two dozen modifications, additions, and improvements to existing facilities before the three new elementary schools are built, listed now as priorities 24, 25 and 26. But nothing is official, Satterfield emphasized, and Superintendent John DeCotis concurred Monday. If a tax initiative of any type is to take place with the November general election, a final decision on how to proceed will have to be made by July, DeCotis said.
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