| Question: | What are the likely consequences if the bond issue is defeated? |
| Answer: | Funds would not be available to address facility and educational deficiences. Students would continue to receive instruction in overcrowded schools and in trailers district wide. Instructional strategies used in smaller learning communities to address truancy, dropout rate and student achievement would not be fully implemented at the high school. Driven by a great deal of community input, the Board of Education is committed to solving the facility and educational concerns. A delay in addressing these issues results in higher construction costs and possibly increased interest rates. |
| Question: | How many classrooms are in the current high school? |
| Answer: | There are 100 classrooms in the current high school. There are 52 classrooms in the main building, 37 classrooms in JD Adams Hall and 11 classrooms in the trailers. |
| Question: | Why not a sales tax? |
| Answer: | By state law, school districts do not have the authority to levy a sales tax. Cities and counties can levy a sales tax for “special purposes”. |
| Question: | If approved, when will the New High School be completed? |
| Answer: | August 2012. |
| Question: | Is Garden City Public Schools district enrollment declining? |
| Answer: | Yes, since the Con Agra fire in 2000 the district enrollment has declined 583 students. Hopefully, the district will begin to grow in the near future. This is not the first time the district has had declining enrollment. From 1972 to 1981 the district lost 373 students. However, in 1982 the district gained 609 students and continued to grow until 2000. It is reasonable to expect Garden City Public Schools to grow when any economic growth occurs in the community. Please keep in mind, the current high school enrollment has remained consistent in enrollment throughout this declining enrollment phase. Both the high school and middle schools are overcrowded. All-day kindergarten has increased the need for elementary classroom space. |
| Question: | How many USD 457 teachers/staff are registered? |
| Answer: | 78% of USD 457 district teachers/staff are registered to vote. Voter registration applications are available in all of our school buildings, District Website (www.gckschools.com) and the Educational Support Center. The deadline to register and be able to vote in the November 4th election is October 20, 2008. |
| Question: | What are the increased staffing and operational costs regarding the district’s long-range facility plan? |
| Answer: | The following are estimated operational costs to implement the district Long Range Facility Plan. · Additional teachers – 0. · Additional administrators – 0. · Additional custodians – 9.5 at a cost of $25,000 per custodian for a total of $237,500. · Additional maintenance personnel – 6.0 at a cost of $30,000 each for a total of $180,000. · Total additional sq ft 384,000 for proposed high school plus total additional sq ft to expand Garfield to an early childhood center – 18,500 sq ft (utility cost of $1.10 per sq ft). Total additional sq ft to the district 402,500 sq ft x $1.10 = $442,750. · Total estimated operational expense for long range plan is $860,250 per year. |
| Question: | Why not build a second high school? |
| Answer: | The second high school was one of 10 options studied by the high school committee in a series of public forums. It was determined to be one of the two best options for the board to consider. A second high school has been voted on two times before by patrons in Garden City and failed both times. The research based community survey conducted in January and February revealed that if the board made the decision to try to vote a second high school again it would fail for a third time. After much deliberation the board decided to try a new option to solve the district’s facility needs. This new option is to build one new high school as part of the district’s long-range facility plan. |
| Question: | If the “small learning communities” have to be expanded, will it take out staff parking? |
| Answer: | No, there is space between the learning communities and the staff parking to build. Staff parking currently has 250 spots. It can be expanded to over 400. |
| Question: | Is one large high school really in the best interest of students? How many high school teachers are in favor of this? |
| Answer: | Both approaches, one large school and two smaller ones, are educationally valid. The important factor is how the design of the school meets the needs of the students. The administration is confident that the design as presented will meet students’ needs. |
| Question: | How is one new large high school an improvement over what we now have? |
| Answer: | The new high school will be much larger, better organized, all in one building with more staff/student parking. It will address the current overcrowded conditions and will provide more academic opportunities for students. It will offer improved science rooms/labs and computer labs. It will also enhance safety and reduce truancy. |
| Question: | Will lunch be closed for all students at the new high school? |
| Answer: | Yes, there will be adequate space in the cafeteria to accommodate all students and staff for lunch with the utilization of three or four lunch shifts |
| Question: | Will the “small learning communities” in the new high school be similar to “colleges” in a university? |
| Answer: | Not exactly. While each small learning community will have a focus, similar to colleges in a university, each small learning community also contains the core classes necessary to support that small school in its four basic academic areas, which is unlike a college. For example, if teachers designed a small learning community with a focus on science, healing arts, and engineering, it would contain not only the upper level electives to support those interests, but it would also have the language arts, math, science, and social studies classes offered in that small learning community that all students take regardless of their interest. |
| Question: | What happens if “small learning communities” become unpopular in education? |
| Answer: | Small learning communities have been gaining in popularity since the 1970s. They are not a fad. The research on their effectiveness continues to grow. I don’t foresee making education more relevant to students’ learning needs every becoming “unpopular.” |
| Question: | Will there be better security for the new high school? |
| Answer: | Yes, the access to the property and building will be controlled. There will be School Resource Officers as well as appropriate teacher and administration supervision. In addition, cameras will be installed within the building as well as outside. |
| Question: | Why not build a competition football/soccer field at the new high school? |
| Answer: | The cost to build a new stadium would be approximately $5,000,000-$10,000,000, depending upon what is included. The district currently has Memorial Stadium which is in excellent condition and will serve the district’s needs for several years. |
| Question: | How many will there be in the new high school? |
| Answer: | There will be 132 classrooms in the new high school. This includes the gymnasium and labs. |
| Question: | Why is the school board addressing these improvements now with the current economic conditions? |
| Answer: | There are several reasons. The primary reason is our current facilities do not meet the academic needs of our students. With respect to the economy, interest rates for municipal bonds are near record lows, but heading upward. Putting off these improvements will cost taxpayers more in the long run. The school board is committed to sound economic practices and these improvements must happen at some point. In addition, under the current school finance formula, the State of Kansas will pay 37% of the principal and interest on the bonds. |
| Question: | How is Dodge City doing with “small learning communities”? Have graduation rates and test scores been affected? |
| Answer: | Although there may be a variety of reasons for the improvement, Dodge City has seen improvements in their graduation rates and their assessment scores since moving into their new building. The reasons could include the isolated geographic location of the building away from the center of town, something about the building itself, and the presence of learning communities. There has been a 10% – 15% reduction in truancy. |
| Question: | Where can we observe “small learning communities” already in place? |
| Answer: | In Kansas, Junction City is having great success with their small learning communities. My favorite example of small learning communities is South Grand Prairie High School in Texas. http://sgphs.gpisd.org/. They have a great website worth visiting. Although they are set up differently than we are considering, Dodge City also has a version of small learning communities. |
| Question: | Why is the plan for the auditorium at the new high school to seat 750 when Clifford Hope Auditorium seats 1,188? |
| Answer: | The Board of Education discussed adding 750 more seats to the new high school auditorium at a cost of approximately $1,800,000-$2,800,000. After much discussion, it was decided to leave the seating capacity at 750. This will be sufficient for most high school performances. The theater teacher and department also support this size facility for educational reasons. Clifford Hope Auditorium will continue to be maintained for community performances requiring a larger audience. However, if the bond passes in November and the city and/or county would like to increase the seating capacity of the auditorium through a sales tax, the Board of Education would be willing to discuss the possibility. |
| Question: | Why is the swimming pool not included in the new high school? |
| Answer: | The board discussed this option and determined not to add $7,300,000 to the bond for the projected cost of a pool. |
| Question: | The artificial turf, track and bleachers were just upgraded at Memorial Stadium. Why was this done, knowing a new high school is needed? |
| Answer: | A new high school has been needed for over 15 years. Who knows, if this bond does not pass in November, how long it will be before the district gets a new high school. In the meantime, the district is committed to maintaining and upgrading its facilities. |
| Question: | Can this bond issue be funded through a special “school tax” so property owners are not the only group to pay for it (the biggest concern throughout the community)? |
| Answer: | No, please keep in mind that the state of Kansas will contribute 37% of the $97.5 million dollar bond. This will be quite a savings to the local taxpayer. |
| Question: | How long has the district had 26 classrooms in trailers (Garden City High School, Abe Hubert Middle School, Kenneth Henderson Middle School and Georgia Matthews Elementary School)? |
| Answer: | Trailers have been in use at the middle schools for over 20 years and at the high school for over 15 years. This is generally a short term, stop-gap, measure to address over-crowding, but in Garden City, trailer classrooms have served as a long-term solution. |
| Question: | Isn’t the land for the new high school in a “flood plain”? |
| Answer: | A land assessment was conducted and it was determined that this area was suitable for the new high school and outside facilities (tennis courts, practice fields, track, future stadium, future softball fields and future baseball fields). Proper excavation will yield a facility that will have good drainage. The land currently drains well as it has a natural slope to the north. The new high school will be built at the south end of the property and will be higher than the bypass. |
| Question: | Will there be better security for the new high school? |
| Answer: | Yes, the access to the property and building will be controlled. There will be School Resource Officers as well as appropriate teacher and administration supervision. In addition, cameras will be installed within the building as well as outside. |
| Question: | How do these small groups with “specific interests” hit benchmarks that ensure future No Child Left Behind (NCLB) criteria? |
| Answer: | Each small learning community has the core academic classes (language arts, science, social studies, and math) that students take now. Within those classes, teachers will still teach our curriculum that aligns to state standards. However, projects, examples and related reading could all be geared toward the area of interest of the small learning community. Because learning is more relevant, students learn more and are interested in applying that knowledge. Thus, small learning communities actually help us meet NCLB standards better than the traditional large high school can do. |
| Question: | Will each “small learning community” get different results on state exams? |
| Answer: | It is not expected that students’ state test results would differ significantly. Each small learning community has the core academic classes (language arts, science, social studies, and math) that students take now. Within those classes, teachers will still teach our curriculum that aligns to state standards. Projects, examples and related reading can all be geared toward the area of interest of the small learning community. However, the indicators taught in all the core classes will be the same in all small learning communities. It’s “how information is taught” during instruction that may vary across the small learning communities, not “what information is taught.” |