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Superintendent. Dr. David Hoffert provided an update to the Warsaw School Board Monday about what the future of Lakeview Middle School could look like.
Hoffert said the information is not new, but he was sharing where Warsaw Community Schools was at when it comes to Lakeview.
“We know that this has been five or six years to be able to get to this point and we still are not at a point to make a final recommendation. But I did want to share just a little bit more information and a bit more guidance as where we are along inside of this process,” he said.
He said the school corporation has a 10-year facilities plan in order to plan accordingly for upcoming needs. They also wanted to make sure there was some sort of construction project going on so WCS as not getting behind somewhere as far as facility needs.
He also emphasized WCS’ tax rates and how construction projects helps keep the tax rates low. He said WCS’ tax rate is 12% under the state average “and there is no projected tax increase due to any projects we’re moving forward.” He also said WCS is not looking at an increase in the tax levy for building projects. WCS has a sizable debt capacity “that we have not allocated nor asked for.” Financial advisors said WCS have very wise with their tax dollars.
Hoffert said the issue was not a quick fix, but a project that could potentially take five to seven years.
Lakeview was built in 1962 and transitioned to a middle school in the early 1990s. There have been over 6 million student days and over 40 million student class hours in the 65 years the school has been in existence, he said, adding WCS wants that type of longevity in its schools and wants to think about the next generation when WCS makes decisions.
The options for Lakeview previously talked about are to create a new school, renovate Lakeview, create a combined middle school at the Edgewood Middle School location or to create a combined middle school at the Lakeview location.
“We’d love to take a couple of these options off the table. But I have to say here over the last couple of months, we have continued to look at those options. We continue to look at the fiscal impact. We continue to look at the community impact as well through many different conversations,” he said, adding WCS has met with various different groups about the impact the project could have.
He also stated moving the high school from where Lakeview currently is to the location on Ind. 15 had an impact on businesses on Winona Avenue.
When looking at options, Hoffert said WCS is projected to stay steady over the next 10 years as far as enrollment numbers. WCS also has a middle school that has a Dual Language Immersion program with Lakeview and Edgewood is STEM certified. WCS would love to bring them together and create more efficiency and more options along the way.
The option to build a new school was no longer a viable option, Hoffert said. WCS looked at a lot of different land tracts and had issues with electrical and utility hook ups or the land was too close to railroad tracks “and schools are not allowed to build next to railroad tracks because of some of the safety issues,” he said. Other pieces of land were “too far out in a way.”
Another option Hoffert recommended be taken off the table was to combine the two middle schools at Edgewood. Hoffert said part of the reasoning was traffic-flow balance. Also, there would be no room for the middle school to grow in the future.
Hoffert also talked about the remaining two options.
As far as renovating Lakeview, Hoffert said the question was what WCS would do with WAAC and Gateway classes housed at Lakeview.
If the two middle schools were combined at Lakeview, Hoffert said Edgewood could then be reused and could cut down on transportation costs.
Hoffert said WCS is looking for a determination within the next couple months for the project.
In other business, the board:
• Approved hiring Kyle Hartman as the girl’s varsity basketball coach.
• Heard about a bell-to-bell cell phone restriction law signed by Gov. Mike Braun. The bill will require each school corporation and charter school to adopt a policy that does not allow students to use personal wireless devices during the school day. Hoffert said WCS has a group of parents, administrators and teachers working through the law.
• Heard a presentation Lincoln Principal Hilary Stouder, instructional coach Holly Stanfill, interventionist Shelby Beam and student Raven Burton about the school’s recent Leadership Day.
