External
Construction Committee members convened for the Fayette County Board of
Education’s work session, which was held to discuss options on new elementary
schools, and to set a timeline of when and where they are to be built. At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. DeCotis,
Superintendent,
Dr. DeCotis
informed the Board Members of the sites that the School System is proposing to
build upon: 1) on property owned by the
Board on Inman Road; 2) property deeded to the Fayette County Board of
Education, by John Wieland Properties, in the “Centennial” Subdivision in
Peachtree City; and 3) at an undetermined site in the Northern sector of the
county.
Dr. DeCotis
next introduced Mike Satterfield, Director of Facilities Services, and asked
Mike to inform the Board of student enrollment at our schools. Mr. Satterfield gave the Board members maps
of each of the Fayette County schools, identifying school enrollment,
instructional units available at the schools, and State construction units
earned for the purpose of payment of funding our students. The maps also identified “pullouts” (special
programs that are not full time classes for the students, but nonetheless help
students (i.e., gifted classes, strings, science labs, special-ed classes, IEPs, etc.)) Mr. Satterfield mentioned that many times,
schools are not fully funded by the State because of the “pullouts” and many
times do not have enough classroom space for both the regular students and
pullouts, therefore the need for portable classrooms arises. Mike also mentioned that each school has an
average of 10 pullouts, and that the Principals of the schools do a great job
in deciding upon space within the school for the pullouts. Each year the pupil population numbers
fluctuate, and the space issue needs to be addressed. Therefore, a school may have a student
enrollment of one number, and their true capacity could be conceivably 150
students less than that enrollment due to the extra pullout classes. The Board addressed this issue, and wished to
reiterate this point to their constituents, and this is the reason why
boundaries and rezoning is sometimes necessary.
Mr. Klaus Darnall, Construction Supervisor for Fayette County
Schools, next addressed the podium. He
made a presentation about different paths the Board could take in making the
next elementary school(s). At the time
the last Bond issuance was passed, two schools were configured into the Bond
money raised, at approximately $68.00 per square foot. Since the cost of construction, steel, and
concrete have increased so greatly, the average cost of construction now ranges
between $129 and $157 per square foot, which has caused the Board to have a
planned deficit with the construction budget of the schools, and to look
closely at cost-saving ways to efficiently build our schools. Klaus mentioned that the most cost efficient
way to build a school was to use a prototype plan, which would save
architectural planning costs. He
presented different options in roofing and air conditioning/heat pumps that
could be used; these options would save some costs, but costs would still be
over budget, and standards would be compromised.
Mr. Darnall’s solution was that the school be built as a
prototype with full core facilities, with a slight reduction of classrooms for
the first stage. Later, more classrooms
could always be added, and this would cut costs. With this option, the new schools built would
still have a budget deficit. The Internal Construction Committee has discussed
allocating funds that we anticipate will be available from the Bennett’s
The Board
next discussed the timing in the sale of the second set of bonds. Mr. Lee Davis, Comptroller, informed the
Board that we plan to sell the remaining bonds in the summer of 2007. At this time, some maintenance projects in
existing schools would be funded as well, such as the renovation of the kitchen
at Oak Grove Elementary and the Brooks Elementary School addition. The Board asked Mr. Davis to confer with the
Board of Education’s attorney to discuss the issue of breaking the next
issuance into two portions, instead of one lump sum, in order to have money left
over for the second school’s building project.
Also before
making a decision, the Board asked Mr. Fred Oliver, Deputy Superintendent, to
have the Transportation Department print “Edulog”
information, based on student addresses from the three areas in question.
The Board
next heard from Jerry Whitaker, Consultant for the Fayette County Board of
Education, on growth in the county. Mr.
Whitaker reported that the whole county is experiencing growing pains and many new
building permits have been submitted for approval from the County since last
year.
Dr. DeCotis
asked members of the External Construction Committee about their comments on
the placement of the new elementary school(s).
They had the consensus that 1) growth on the south side of
Discussion
was held on the land characteristics needed to build a school. With a septic system, a minimum of 30 acres
are needed for a new school site; with a sewer system, minimum land needed is
20 acres which are suitable for a septic system. Good roads with heavy traffic access are
needed for a new school land parcel
before approved, and two ways to exit the school site are needed as well. The land needs to be a state approved site,
and must be approved by the transportation department, as well. The Board stated that with the growth that
the county is experiencing, there is not an abundance of large land lots
suitable to build on, with the road conditions that are needed.
Upon further
discussion, the Board voted to: approve the proposed prototype of school
presented to them by Mr. Darnall, which is modified
to leave some classrooms off of the plans, at this time. At the Board’s next work session, they have
proposed to look at the location of the schools, based on the Transportation
Department’s Edulog system tracking; and a timeline
for the construction of the school(s), based on the information Mr. Davis
receives on the timeline for issuance for the next set of bonds.
The
meeting was adjourned. Dr. DeCotis
thanked everyone for coming and stated that he hoped they enjoyed the meeting.