School board hears planning committee’s list of priorities

After weeks of meetings and travels to Enid and Kingfisher to tour school buildings, the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) for Guthrie Public Schools developed a list of priorities for the school district.

A panel of 10 citizens formed the LRPC and presented their priorities to the Board of Education at Monday’s board meeting. Three school board members were among the 1o committee members, including Gail Davis, Tom Hotz and Travis Sallee along with David Ball, Scott Foster, Zach Robbins, Beaul Haynes, Jason Hirzel, Eddie Lynn, Charlie Meadows, Carrie Mefferd, Courtney Thompson, Kay Wade and Gary Wano.

The group traveled to Kingfisher Middle School and toured the six-year-old building. In addition, they traveled to Enid and toured Garfield Elementary and Enid High School. The elementary school is a brand new construction while the high school, an older building, was recently renovated.

Robbins presented the list of priorities to the board while answering questions. Now, the board will analyze the needs of the district as they embark on the long range planning process.

The LRPC’s list included four priorities with the top priority of constructing an elementary school in the southern portion of the school district. With more growth in the south, LRPC proclaims the location will assist the district in addressing overcrowding at elementary sites and in hopes will allow closure of at least one of the oldest elementary site.

The second priority is to begin a system where attendance at an elementary site is based on geography determined by attendance zones if a school were to be constructed in the south part of the district.

The next priority would be to commission an architectural/engineering feasibility study for the current Junior High School building. The goal in the study will be to better determine a cost/benefit analysis of renovation as an expanded school site or the need of a new site for the Junior High School.

The Junior High building has been a hot topic in past bond attempts in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2008 and 2009, the proposals failed by 1.62 and 2.59 percent, respectively. Both proposals were asking for almost six million dollars.

The final priority the LRPC suggests is continue to maintain the oldest sites (Cotteral, Central, Fogarty, Junior High, Faver and Administration) while they are open through the building fund. Seek additional funds from taxpayers to enhance the infrastructure and maintain the two newest sites (High School built in 1967 and GUES built in 1989) which are in need of further attention for long‐term sustainability.

Along with the priorities, the planning committee listed five goals.

The first goal being to address maintenance items at the newest sites. The High School is in need of electrical, plumbing and HVAC upgrades, while GUES is in need of a new roof.

The second goal is to develop a purchase rotation of school busses which includes 10 new busses every three years.

The third goal is to improve technology access for each teacher by providing laptops.

The fourth goal is to improve technology access for each student by developing a rotation purchase of desktop computers for the secondary sites so no computer is over five years old.

In the final goal, the LRPC believes some of the school buildings present a level of obsolescence as educational facilities which make it very difficult to effectively serve students in their present purpose.

At Cotteral, the LRPC says the building utilizes numerous portable buildings many of which are at the end of their life. Due to the numerous outbuildings, securing the student spaces is quite difficult. This building would be cost prohibitive to bring to current accessibility standards.

The LRPC believes Central is in the best condition of the three but lacks the necessary space to effectively serve elementary students with a playground. The parking lot south of the building is not owned by the district.

At Fogarty the LRPC says the building utilizes numerous portable buildings that create challenges to provide a secure environment for students. This building would be cost prohibitive to bring to current accessibility standards.

At all three schools the proximity to a state highway was a safety concern to the LRPC.