St. Johns Board of Education Strategic Plan

Taking a peek inside the Facilities report - a digest

Goals

• Develop facilities according to the programming needs of the district
• Create a learning environment to meet the needs of the 21 st century
• Upgrade athletic facilities in order to host district, regional, or state competitions
• Create a master plan
• Increase flexibility of classrooms
• Provide facilities that meet needs of new graduation requirements

Recommendations Background

The process of determining what aspects of the Kingscott Report were most important to community of St. Johns was begun in the fall of 2007 by the St. Johns Steering Committee.

The Facilities Committee has decided that the high school is the facility most in need of the improvements. So as you will see in the report a great majority of the committee's time dealt with the high school environment and the surrounding athletic facilities. We found that the middle school has some repairs that are greatly needed. We also included some improvements to the bus garage site and Wilson Center board room.

Included in our final pricing you will see that technology is included, but this work was done by the technology committee and is included to better illustrate possible bond costs.

Middle School

The committee decided that there were some repairs needed to the brick spalding, roof, flooring and entrance that were a high priority and should be included in a master plan. All of these repairs were rated as priority # I, highest priority, by the steering committee. This work would total $748,635. Approximately another $1.9 million in other repairs or upgrades could be considered for the future but we believe the aforementioned repairs to be a necessity.

Operations Building (Bus Garage)

After the original revision of priorities we had planned to pave the bus garage site, provide a wash bay for the buses and a cover for all of the buses. These additions would cost $1.2 million and as we prioritized the cover for the buses was eliminated from our highest priorities. By eliminating the cover we have the total at $760,428 for the operations building.

Wilson Center

The board room at the Wilson Center is too small for well attended meetings. There has been $15,615 allocated toward this room to expand it by going into the current kitchen/teacher lounge. This would allow many more people the opportunity to hear and view the board meetings than is possible in the current setting. This also integrates well with the communications committee and their goals.

Elementary Schools

Kingscott's study and the revised priorities of the steering committee resulted in many repairs to the elementary buildings which consisted of about $9.5 million. However the programming committee has recommended that to better serve our students educationally, and to even out class size discrepancies closing the country elementary schools is the best option.

In order to accomplish this task we would need to add classrooms to both Gateway and Oakview, along with building a new elementary school in town. This could be accomplished in two different ways with the price varying from about$17.5-18.5 million.

High School

The St. Johns High School needs the following improvement

• Classroom Additions
• Classroom Remodeling and renovations
• Gymnasium Locker Room additions and renovations
• Pool addition
• Cafeteria/Servery additions and renovation
• Administration area addition and renovations
• Auditorium additions and renovations
• Energy improvement
• Media enter remodeling
• Music area remodeling
• Interior building renovations
• ADA improvements
• Site improvements
• Mechanica/HVAC Improvements
• Fire Protection
• Electrical Improvements
• Technolog

Athletics

• Football stadium improvements
• Excavation and Utilities
• Reconstruct Field
• Bleachers and Press Box
• New Electrical Lighting. P A and Scoreboard
• New Team Rooms/Storage
• Fencing
• Remodel Existing Concession/Rest Room
• Handicap Parking and Walks
• Equipment
• Playing Surface
• Baseball/Softball
• New baseball field
• New softball field
• Upgrade existing fields
• Scoreboards
• Press box
• Track
• Bleachers
• Track surface
• Joint concessions and restrooms for track/baseball/softball/tennis

Summary

During this process we were able to eliminate $12.95 million in costs in the areas of the high school athletic improvements, middle school repair, the operations building, and the WiIson Center.

We considered multiple layouts of both the athletic facilities and the high school. Much time and consideration was put into the rationale for both of the layouts that we recommend to you. We believe that the results of our committee include facilities that are both highly necessary and functional to the meet the increasing needs of the students of the St. Johns school district. The committee believes this should be treated as a master plan for the district facilities. The committee also believes that the high school is the main priority. Furthermore we strongly believe that educational improvements and athletics should be tied together at the secondary level. We would like the board to consider multiple ballot questions which would not bind the elementary and secondary together.

Included below are the detailed site plan options for both the athletic and high school facilities along with costs of the varying repairs and improvements.

Rationale

St. Johns High School

In 1969 St. Johns Public Schools opened up a state of the art high school for grades 10-12.

The square foot per student of a building does affect how teachers deliver instruction to students and in turn may affect our overall student achievement. As the Kingscott Study emphases the square footage per student on a national average of recently constructed facilities is 170 to 210 square feet per pupil. St. Johns High School is currently at approximately 147 square feet per student. In short, our facility space does not meet the needs of today's education and may put our kids at a learning disadvantage.

The remainder of this report will focus on some of the major needs at the high school that must be addressed in order to help our kids become successful and give them a better chance at not only meeting but mastering today's demanding curriculum requirements.

Science

A new science wing would benefit St. Johns High School much more than simply remodeling the current science wing. There are many reasons why a new wing would not only be better but would be more efficient, practical, and safer.

First, with the current layout, there are five science teachers in the science wing. But in the high school, there are a total of seven science teachers, so two of them must be located in other areas of the school. In years past, there have actually been eight science teachers. These other two to three classrooms do not have sinks, lab space, safety equipment or chemical storage areas. The other two to three teachers must often transport dangerous chemicals through the school to their classrooms to perform laboratory exercises in classrooms not designed for laboratory experiments.

Often the restrooms must be used for the disposal of some chemicals as well as for the cleaning of glassware and other laboratory equipment. The pipes and drainage systems in other areas of the building are not designed for the disposal of more dangerous chemicals, so chemical wastes must be transported through the school back to the science wing for disposal.

The current classrooms that do have lab space are not set up correctly. It is impossible to safely monitor all laboratory activity with the current layout. The sinks in the classrooms that have them are so small that it is impractical to use them (the size of the sinks at the lab stations is six inches by three inches). The one to two regular-sized sinks clog readily and get overused because there are no others. Increasing the sink sizes would require increasing the surface size of the lab tables, thus taking away from the lecture space.

Most of the classrooms are not equipped with safety showers, fume hoods or other vital safety equipment that is required of a science classroom. Adding these things would take away from the already cramped space available.

Music

The Orchestra facilities at the high school are inadequate due to the fact that the music schedule is driven by the lack of room for two ensembles. The Orchestra and Choir share the same room and that alone dictates the schedule of each respective class.

There are inadequate (none) practice rooms for Orchestra students. Students are sent to the hallways and the instructor's office to practice. This makes it very difficult to monitor students. The middle school orchestra has three practice rooms. The size of the orchestra is growing and the room is too small to accommodate the large number of students.

There is no recording equipment in thc orchestra room for instant feedback. At the middle school the room is equipped with recording equipment.

Instruments are stored out in the open in the orchestra room. Security is a concern.

The Choir facilities at the high school are inadequate due to the fact that the music schedule is driven by the lack of rooms for two ensembles. There are no dressing rooms for the students for performances.

Drinking fountains are not in the choir room. Students must leave the instructional process for needed water. At the middle school there are drinking fountains in the choir room.

Band

The room is too small to accommodate all 180 members of the band. Rehearsals for marching band take place on the stage, travel time to the stage waste instructional time.

After the marching band season the group divides into two ensembles. The second group must go to the stage and rehearse. This also affects the theater group because their props are on stage in preparation for the fall performance.

There are no dressing room for the students for performances. Friday nights are a major concern with the amount of students that need to change into their uniforms. The custodians are concerned about the items left in the hallways.

There is no recording equipment in the band room for instant feedback. At the middle school the room is equipped with recording equipment.

Drinking fountains in the Band room are not present. Students leave the instructional process for needed water. At the middle school there are drinking fountains in the band room.

There are inadequate (two) practice rooms for all 230 students. Students are sent to the hallways and the instructor s office to practice. This makes it very difficult to monitor students. The middle school band room has two practice rooms.

Instruments are stored out in the open in the band room. Security is a concern

What little instrument storage there is for the band students is in hallway lockers.

Students cannot be monitored in two places at once. The middle school has the instrument storage in the room itself so students can be monitored.

Storage is a major concern in general. Seasonal equipment is stored in the portable behind the school. Each year more equipment becomes damaged due to the sharing of this room with other organizations.

Auditorium

Performer Perspective

SJHS students need an acoustic environment that is conducive to acoustic (non-amplified) performances. Having a performance space with resonance and echo enables the bands, choirs and orchestras to achieve a better blend and richer tone. The current stage has no acoustical shell, so the students struggle to hear each other and the current auditorium as a whole does not have much resonance or echo to it.

SJHS students need a pit for the orchestra that plays for staged musical productions. Having a recessed pit helps achieve a better balance between the orchestra and the on-stage performers. It al 0 keeps sight lines clear between on-stage performers and audience members.

Behind the Scenes

SJHS students need to be able to learn about current technologies used in live performances (stage rigging, fly systems sound systems, lighting, projection, audio recording, etc.) The current equipment is outdated or we do not have the equipment. The experience the students are getting on this equipment does not prepare them to go on to other performing arts settings.

SJHS students need proper changing rooms for theatrical productions. We currently do not have official changing facilities. Students are changing backstage and in the scene shop.  

Audience Perspective

Audience members should be able to see everyone and everything on the stage. This means the seats have to be at the same level or higher than the stage (theatre seating).

Industrial Arts

CAD Drafting and Design

Currently we have two drafting labs. One is the advanced lab that houses the CAD workstations and the other one is the beginning lab which currently only has traditional drafting tables. The advanced lab would benefit with a larger facility. 

Metal Technology

The current metals lab is very crowded and the equipment is very out-dated. The lab would greatly benefit from having a new overhead door installed which would make moving equipment in and out much easier. Lighting is an issue in this lab as well as ventilation.

Auto Service

The Auto Service facility would greatly benefit from expansion into the existing maintenance portion of the building on the south side.

Wood Technology

The woods lab is in good shape at this lime with the recent renovation. The wood lab still needs an overhead door for hauling in and out large projects like storage sheds New tool storage cabinets just inside the lab are also needed. 

Industrial Technology Wing

When the original building was built we had an industrial arts wing and we see how this would be beneficial to our department again. We would like to see a new weight room and small activities room built as part of the remodel. This would allow us to have those areas back in the department.

Art

3-D Ceramics

Ceramics is our most popular course elective in the Art Department. This year we offer eight sections serving more than 200 students. With current enrollment, we do not have anywhere near the amount of seating space, storage space, or kilns to provide an effective end efficient ceramics program of our size.

Safety & Air Quality: Ceramics by nature creates dust. Other than one window, the room lacks an adequate ventilation system.

Kiln: With the rigor and speed of trimesters we cannot keep up on firing ceramic projects nor can we explore other media such as porcelain. Because of the number of projects, the one kiln we have runs everyday to full capacity.  

2-D Art

Storage & Workspace: Because neither room was intended to function as an art lab, they each lack storage facilities necessary for art-related equipment . . . Since it is common for the 2-D lab to see 100 students in one day all working with wet materials, drying racks are essential to preserving the integrity of a student's work.

Equipment: The kinds and styles of art have changed significantly over the past 40 years. The current overall lack of proper equipment and space severely limits St. Johns High School's Art program, relegating it to an antiquated art experience.

More specifically and immediately, the existing equipment hinders learning. For example, the tables and chairs are a blatant safety concern because in the past five years, six chairs have broken while students were sitting in them. Two tops from drafting desks have come unhinged and fallen.

Teaching students observation drawing skills is the most important skill for college entrance portfolios. Art institutions and programs want the majority of an applicant's portfolio to include still lives. In order to produce quality still lives. however, we need proper lighting for the students to be able to see the values in each object.

Future Programming

The Art Department's class sizes average 26 students for all 24 classes offered in a year. We service approximately 600 to 650 students a year in our two labs, which is over 50% of the high school's total student population. The sheer number of students overwhelms our labs and equipment.

Pool/Aquatics

• Existing pool is 40 years old.
• Only six lanes - SJ can never host a league or state competition.
• Depth does not meet current National Federation requirements.
• Infrastructure is wearing out - leaks. etc.
• Much less efficient than modern day pools.
• Repair is difficult due to older parts
• Curved tiles around exterior of pool are no longer avai lable.
• Locker rooms, office etc. are small and outdated.
• Storage is totally inadequate.
• Poor ventilation in balcony.
• Not handicap accesible.

Gymnasium

• Existing gym is 40 years old.
• Wooden bleachers are unsafe (open space exposed, they move when stepped on, etc.
• Practice time is a major issue especially with the seasons changing

Having a second gym would enable SJ to have more practice time for all activities, necessary locker rooms so both genders would not have to share one locker room appropriate and safe space to host officials, and increase opportunities to host slate level tournaments, which bring people into our school and community.

Baseball/Softball Complex

Current fields are in poor shape, i.e. dugouts, fencing, press boxes, infield, etc.

The softball field drops 12" from third to first base. This causes extreme problems with drainage.

SJ will not be in position to host state level tournaments unless fields are improved. We have no restrooms available for players and spectators. Rented portable toilets are necessary at a high expense.

Football Stadium

Current stadium is totally outdated and unsafe, i.e. cracked concrete throughout bleachers, press box is poor, poor fencing, no interior fencing, traffic patterns through Rotary Building can not handle size of crowd, not enough restrooms and concessions access, no good place to host officials, traffic pattern for officials and players runs directly through the crowd can not separate the home/away crowds. This Is A Supervision Nightmare.

Not enough seating - kids have no where to sit.

St. Johns is at a prime location to host state level games, but can not with our current facility.

Soccer/Track Complex

If the soccer field stays in its current location, it needs lights. Most of the 26 schools in the CAAC have lights.

More bleacher/seating is needed.

Track is now 10 years old and needs to be recoated. This is recommended every seven years.

We have a small ticket booth currently to sell concessions in. This also serves as our admission booth. We also have to rent portable toilets for all soccer and track contests.