Recently I have
fielded questions regarding the location of the proposed elementary school land
in the referendum and the impact of open enrollment on the district. The following will hopefully provide some background
and rationale for the bond referendum before us on February 4.
Last fall we contacted several landowners
regarding potential school sites. The Board expressed their desire to
purchase enough land to house multiple buildings in the long term. They
also desired to have the land on the eastern side of the district in order to
accommodate the growing population/enrollment in that area.
To that end several parcels of land
were researched. In the end, the current parcel met the criteria of being
large enough to accommodate multiple buildings, and is by far the most economical,
the similar sized parcel adjacent to the high school would have been
approximately six times more costly. Should the bond fail on February 4th;
there is no guarantee that the land involved in this bond would be available
for the same price, or ultimately available at all.
The area between the middle school
and high school has also been mentioned. In the current plan much of that
area will be developed into the middle school addition and parking. There
is not sufficient space there for an elementary school. Guidelines for
elementary school sites run from 11-15 acres per building.
At the present time the district is
simply reaching the place where enrollment is greater than available
educational space. Our enrollment is projected to exceed instructional
capacity in the 2015-2016 school year, exceeding 2500 students in 2017-2018 and
3000 students in 2020-2021. Current plans work to lay the groundwork for
continuing to deal with the growing enrollment in the district. The district anticipates needing to add a
fifth PK-5 elementary building within the next five years and additional
secondary facilities in approximately 10 years.
In the event the bond passes, Clear
Creek Elementary fifth graders will need to be transported to Amana Elementary
for only one year, 2014-2015. The opening of a new elementary in the fall
of 2015 would create space for the implementation of community PK-5 elementary
schools.
If the bond should fail, the district
will need to implement a combination of measures in order to meet the needs of
our students. Increased bussing of elementary students to Amana
Elementary, utilization of portable/temporary classrooms, and larger class
sizes would all be necessary. During that time we would also need to put
forth another bond referendum in an attempt to increase the facilities
available to meet the needs of CCA students. It is almost certain that
land prices and interest rates will rise during the time needed to run another
bond, increasing the cost of adding facilities.
Another area that is often questioned
is that of open enrollment. Currently CCA has a net of approximately 200
students open enrolled into the district. The district has closed open
enrollment at North Bend Elementary, for three years, and at Clear Creek
Elementary, for two years. My recommendation to the Board will be to
continue with closed open enrollment at those sites, as well as the new
elementary should the bond pass. While we do not pick up many open
enrollments at the secondary level, we will continue to evaluate if that needs
to be closed also on an annual basis.
The area of growth that CCA is
dealing with is in resident students. The district was up 126 resident
students over the last year. That type of growth is projected to be
maintained, or increased for the next several years. The challenge lies
in the growth of our resident population, not from students open enrolling into
CCA.
Please feel free to contact me with
any questions you have.
Sincerely,
Tim Kuehl
Superintendent
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