USD-457 Bond Updates

Horace Good, right, recieved a plaque from Mike Utz, USD 457 Board of Education president, as Rick Atha, superintendent, looks on during the March 8, 2010 board meeting. Good's name was chosen for the facility at 1412 N. Main Street, which will become Horace J. Good Middle School after the district bond projects are complete.

Construction crews take down one of two homes that the Board of Education approved purchase of in November 2009 to make room for the addition at Garfield Elementary School. The school will be converted into a centralized Early Childhood Center. The project is expected to be completed in July 2010.

All of the trades continued to make progress inside the building. The sheet rockers have completed the exterior walls to full height and have started sheet rocking the walls that come off of the exterior walls.

The board of education voted unanimously to name the current high school building, 1412 N. Main Street, which will be converted into a middle school facility, Horace Good Middle School. Good, was a former USD 457 superintendent. Good was the superintendent of Garden City Public Schools from 1969 to 1984. The name will take effect when the new high school opens up and the middle school students move to the current high school facility, which is anticipated to open in 2012.

The Board of Education voted to name the new high school facility Garden City High School, to retain the name of J.D. Adams Hall on the current building, to rename Garfield Elementary School as Garfield Early Childhood Center and Abe Hubert Middle School as Abe Hubert Elementary School during its regularly scheduled board meeting.

No decision was made on a name for the current high school building, which will become a middle school facility. The board will make a decision on the name of the building at its February meeting.

The names will change on the buildings in 2012.

The Board of Education voted unanimously to proceed with a new one-way circular design around the new high school with a two-lane entrance and exit from Mary Street. The plan is to have one-way traffic moving counter clockwise around the entire facility with access points to parking lots and drop-offs for busses, students, and staff.

The design eliminates access to the north side of the campus from Campus Drive and Pioneer Road. The new design also removes access from the roundabout at Cherokee and Labrador.

Ground work continues at the new 384,000 square foot high school facility that is being constructed north of Mary Street and east of Campus Drive. The photo shows the area where the gymnasium will sit on the campus. The project is expected to be completed in August 2012.

Ground work continues at the new 384,000 square foot high school facility that is being constructed north of Mary Street and east of Campus Drive. The project is expected to be completed by August 2012.

Construction is progressing on the new 18,500 square foot space that is being added onto Garfield Elementary School. The school will be converted into a centralized Early Childhood Center. The project is expected to be completed in July 2010.

The Garden City USD 457 facilities naming committee will recommend to the Board of Education three names for the current high school at 1412 N. Main St., which will be turned into a middle school, and three names for the current Abe Hubert Middle School, 1205 A St., which will be turned into an elementary school.

Members of the committee voted Monday night on paper ballots what to name the facility at 1412 N. Main St. Clifford R. Hope Sr., Abe Hubert, and Horace Good, received the most votes. The committee will present the three names to the Board of Education on December 7, 2009.

If the name Abe Hubert is chosen, the facility at 1412 N. Main St. becomes Abe Hubert Middle School. The committee also made a decision to submit three names for the current Abe Hubert Middle School building, 1205 A St., which will become an elementary school. Those names are Jesse Bernal Sr., Clifford R. Hope Sr., and Bernard Killer.

If the board does not decide to name the facility at 1412 N. Main St. Abe Hubert Middle School, the name Abe Hubert will remain with the facility at 1205 A. Street and it will become Abe Hubert Elementary School, the committee decided.

The committee is allowed by board policy to recommend no less than three and no more than five names to the Board of Education.

Under the bond project that passed in November 2008, a new, $92.5 million high school will be built, Garfield Elementary School will become a centralized early childhood center, Abe Hubert will become an elementary school, the current GCHS building will be converted into a middle school, and New Outlook Academy will move into J.D. Adams Hall, which sits adjacent to the current high school.

The committee selected the three names from the remainder of the original seven names that were chosen for consideration for the building at 1412 N. Main St., along with the nominations that were included in the public packet from the previous meeting.

The names for consideration included: Bernal, a foreign language teacher at GCHS; Norman Clark, social studies teacher at Abe Hubert Middle School; W.D. Fulton, a founding father of Garden City; Good, former superintendent; Hope, a GCHS graduate who won a landslide election into the U.S. House of Representatives in 1926; Russell Isaac, a former school psychologist; J.R. Jones, former superintendent; Killer, a former teacher and principal; Lori Peister, former teacher and administrator at Kenneth Henderson; Robert Sander, retired teacher and coach; Meredith Sonderegger, former educator; and Lincoln and Washington, after presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The committee also made a decision to recommend to the board that the facility at 121 W. Walnut Street be named the Garfield Early Learning Center.

Steel is being erected on the new 18,500 square foot space that is being added onto Garfield Elementary School. The school will be converted into a centralized Early Childhood Center. The project is expected to be completed in July 2010.

The Garden City Public Schools Facilities Naming Committee met Monday, October 19, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the input that they received from the community. The committee has been formed to recommend naming or renaming of new and current facilities that are affected by the Long Range Facility Plan passed in 2008. The facilities affected include Garfield Elementary School, Abe Hubert Middle School, Garden City High School, the new high school, and J.D. Adams Hall.

The committee requested suggestions and nominations, including support letters, no longer than two pages in length. The committee received nominations from the community of W.D. Fulton, a founding father of Garden City; Robert Sander, retired teacher and coach; Russell Isaac, a former school psychologist; Meredith Sonderegger, former educator; Lori Peister, former teacher and administrator at Kenneth Henderson; Patricia Fishback, former teacher; and Lincoln and Washington, after presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The committee made a recommendation at the meeting for seven names to be considered for the current high school facility at 1412 N. Main Street. The names to be considered include: Clifford R. Hope Sr., a Garden City High School graduate who won a landslide election into the U.S. House of Representatives in 1926; J.R. Jones, former superintendent; Horace Good, former superintendent; Jesse Bernal Sr., a foreign language teacher at GCHS; Norman Clark, social studies teacher at Abe Hubert Middle School; Bernard Killer, a former teacher and principal; and Abe Hubert, former teacher and principal and namesake of one of the district's two middle schools, to be potential names for the future middle school. The vote was 12 in favor and five opposed.

The committee made a decision to limit its final consideration of nominations to the seven names that were approved for the facility at 1412 N. Main Street. In addition, the committee would consider the nominations received from the community and presented at the October 19^th meeting if considering a different building configuration of what has been preliminary approved by the committee. The motion carried unanimously by the committee.

The committee made a preliminary decision to recommend that the new high school be named Garden City High School, to retain the name of J.D. Adams Hall on the current building, to rename Garfield Elementary School as Garfield Early Childhood Center and Abe Hubert Middle School as Abe Hubert Elementary School. No final decision on a name for the current high school building, which will become a middle school facility, has been made.

The next meeting for the Facilities Naming Committee will be held on Monday, November 2, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Educational Support Center Boardroom, 1205 Fleming Street.

The Garden City Public Schools Facilities Naming Committee met Monday, October 05, 2009, at the Educational Support Center, 1205 Fleming Street. The committee has been created to recommend naming or renaming of new and current facilities that are affected by the Long Range Facility Plan passed in 2008. The facilities affected include Garfield Elementary School, Abe Hubert Middle School, Garden City High School, the new high school, and J.D. Adams Hall.

Board of Education Members serving on the committee include Mike Utz and Jeff Crist. Board President, Mike Utz, presented the board policy and a recommendation by the majority of the Board, to the committee. The recommendation from the Board is that the current names of J.D. Adams, Garfield and Abe Hubert be used in some capacity.

The committee made preliminary decisions to recommend that the new high school be named Garden City High School, to retain the name of J.D. Adams Hall on the current building, to rename Garfield Elementary School as Garfield Early Childhood Center and Abe Hubert Middle School as Abe Hubert Elementary School. No decision on a name for the current high school building, which will become a middle school facility, has been made. The committee is requesting suggestions and nominations, including support letters, no longer than two pages in length. The letters need to be sent, no later than Friday, October 16, 2009, to the Facilities Naming Committee in care of Roy Cessna, Public Information Coordinator, 1205 Fleming, Garden City, Kansas 67846.

The committee is working, within the board policy, to name new schools for persons who have attained prominence locally and nationally, or in the fields of education, science, art statesmanship, political science, or military achievement; early pioneers of Garden City, Finney County, or the State of Kansas; or outstanding presidents of the United States of America.

The recommendation of the committee, to include not less than three names nor more than five names, will be presented to the Board of Education, for their consideration, at the January 11, 2010, Board meeting.

Community members on the committee include Tom Walker, Dee Wigner, Tom Koksal, McKenzie Hanigan, Alex Booker, Dana Woodbury, Jerome Greene, Pat Fishback, Florence Wilson, Bernadine Sitts, Dr. L.E. Fairbairn, Molly Weiland, Dennis Mesa, Tim Cruz, Mario Lopez, Toni Casados, Martha Alicia Hinojosa, and Grant Elpers.

District staff members on the committee include Joanne Nelson, Board Clerk; Juanita Jameson, Librarian at Abe Hubert Middle School; Roy Cessna, Public Information Coordinator; Willis Pracht, Principal at Garfield Elementary School; Martin Segovia, Associate Principal of Alta Brown Elementary School; and Brad Springston, Principal at Abe Hubert Middle School.

The next meeting of the Facilities Naming Committee will be Monday, October 19, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Educational Support Center Board Meeting Room, 1205 Fleming Street.

The Board of Education appointed a Facilities Naming Committee of 21 people, including board members Jeff Crist and Mike Utz.

The committee will decide what to name or rename Garfield Elementary School, Abe Hubert Middle School, Garden City High School, the new high school, and J.D. Adams Hall.

Community members on the committee include Tom Walker, Dee Wigner, Tom Koskal, McKenzie Hanigan, Alex Booker, Dana Woodbury, Jerome Greene, Pat Fishback, Florence Wilson, Bernadine Sitts, Dr. L.E. Fairbairn, Molly Weiland, Dennis Mesa, and Grant Elpers.

District staff on the committee include Joanne Nelson, secretary; Juanita Jameson, media teacher at Abe Hubert Middle School; Roy Cessna, public information coordinator; Willis Pracht, principal at Garfield Elementary School; and Brad Springston, principal at Abe Hubert Middle School.

Those breaking ground for a new 384,000 square foot facility are (l to r): Jean Clifford, BOE member; Tom Blackburn, former BOE member; Gail Dunford, BOE member; Bruce Reichmuth, BOE member; Jeff Crist, BOE member; Dr. Richard Atha, Superintendent of Schools; James Mireles, GCHS Principal; Mike Utz, BOE President; Gloria Hopkins, BOE member; John Scheopner, BOE Vice President; and Tom Stone, Adolfson & Peterson Construction.

Garden City Public Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony in front of a large crowd of community patrons, school staff and students on a cold and wet Wednesday morning. The ceremony was for a new high school facility.

Garden City Public Schools will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new high school on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. The ceremony will be held at the southwest corner north of Mary Street at the corner of Labrador Blvd. and Cherokee Street.

The Board of Education approved of a Naming Committee to be in place by the September 28th Board of Education meeting. The Board of Education will submit names to Dr. Atha to consider as possible committee members. The committee will be charged to name / rename Garfield Elementary School, Abe Hubert Middle School, Garden City High School, J.D. Adams Hall, an dthe new high school facility.

Stewart Nelson, Architect with Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael and Nelson, spoke briefly to update the Board of Education on the new high school project. Ken Graham, with DLR Group, presented the updated Design Development proposal with the addition of a tennis pavilion. Mr. Graham also stated that the traffic study has been completed.

Tony Cingoranelli, Pre-construction manager with Adolfson and Peterson Construction, reported that changes have been made to get back on track and under budget. Mr. Cingoranelli presented the changes that have been made to the Board of Education. The changes include more than $700,000 in cost reductions.

Adolfson and Peterson Construction, and Jerry Bell, Director of Bond Construction, have selected the first of three sub-contractors for the first bid package. They are Wallace Electric, Lee Construction, both local businesses, and Sporer Land Development from Oakley. They were all required to meet pre-qualifications.

The construction crew has completed the foundation and two-thirds of the floors on the 18,500 square foot addition to Garfield Elementary School. The construction crew is getting the location ready for the block layers to begin laying brick Monday, September 14, 2009. The addition is part of the transformation of the school into a centralized Early Childhood Center.

Architects will ask the board for a final approval of the design at the September 14, 2009 Board of Education meeting.

The new high school is scheduled to open in August 2012.

The information and technology small learning community will be crimson. The ninth-grade area will be green, education and finance blue, and agriculture and health yellow.

The Board of Education is one step closer to finalizing a design for the new high school. The board met with architects from DLR Group, and Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael and Nelson, to go over details of the design.

The Garden City Public Schools Board of Education has set two special board meetings on August 3, 2009 and August 5, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. The architects are completing the proposed design for the new high school and will be presenting it to the Board of Education during the meetings. The two meetings will be held in the Educational Support Center Boardroom, 1205 Fleming Street.

The Board of Education approved a contract for engineering services from MKEC Engineering Consultants Inc., Wichita, Kansas for a traffic study.

The study will analyze the affect on existing roads and intersections of traffic generated by the new Garden City High School Complex, and identify warranted improvements to those affected roads and intersections. The consultant will furnish engineering services as required for the completion of work for the project as follows: Analyze traffic count and trip generation data based on High School site entrances to Campus Drive and Cherokee Street.

Analyze the impact of proposed school traffic on the existing street traffic.
• Analysis along Campus Drive from north of Mary Street to just north of the proposed new high school site entrance near Pioneer Road. Includes the proposed school entrance off of Campus in the vicinity of Pioneer and analysis of Labrador and Campus intersection.
• Analysis along Mary Street from east of Campus Drive intersection to west of the U.S. Highway 50/83, including Cherokee and Mary Street intersection.
• Analyze Cherokee and Labrador intersection, to determine if a roundabout, “T” intersection, or other configuration is warranted.
• Analyze Mary Street and Campus Drive intersection.

Geometric analysis – Determine if additional lanes or turn lanes are warranted along Campus, Mary or any of the studied intersections.
Signal warrant analysis
• Cherokee & Mary intersection
• Pioneer & Campus

Construction work has begun on Garfield Elementary School and Abe Hubert Middle School. Garfield Elementary School will have 18,500 square feet of space added to the facility. The school will be converted into a Centralized Early Childhood Center. Abe Hubert Middle School is having an elevator installed and will be transformed into an elementary school.

The Board of Education approved Resolution No. 09-02, authorizing and providing for the issuance of the school district’s general obligation refunding and improvement bonds, series 2009-A, in the total principal amount of $27,010,000, and it’s taxable general obligation bonds (Build America Bonds – direct payment), series 2009-B, in the principal amount of $63,200,000.

The Board of Education approved a resolution to move forward with sale of bonds in the approximate amount of $90,160,000.00 for the approved Bond Project.

The Board of Education accepted the low base bid plus alternate no. 2 and 3 from Dick Construction, Inc., for a total cost of $2,715.897, for the Early Childhood Center Addition to Garfield Elementary School and elevator addition to Abe Hubert Middle School.

The Garden City USD 457 Board of Education viewed the design plans for the new high school during the Monday night board meeting. The updated design of the building helps effectively incorporate the four smaller learning communities, which include different academies in each learning community. The board did not take any action on the design during the meeting. The district wanted to know from the board if the design was heading in the right direction. The architects will update the board on their progress before the board approves a final design in July.

The Board of Education approved a contract with Adolfson and Peterson Construction Co. of Aurora, Colorado, to serve as construction manager at risk for the district's bond project.

The Board of Education approved a committee's recommendation for five companies that will be considered for the construction manager at-risk job to build the new high school.

The construction companies selected are: Adolfson and Peterson Construction, Aurora, Colorado; J.E. Dunn Construction, Kansas City, Missouri; Kraus Anderson Construction, Lenexa, Kansas; Nabholz Construction, Lenexa, Kansas; and Crossland Construction, Columbus, Kansas.

Other companies that sent qualifications for consideration were: Layton Construction, Sandy, Utah; Key Construction, Wichita, Kansas; Hutton Construction and GE Johnson, Wichita, Kansas; The Law Co., Wichita, Kansas; and Haselden Construction, Centennial, Colorado.

The Board of Education will send requests for proposals to the five companies. The proposals are due to the selection committee by March 10, 2009, and the committee will interview the five firms on March 11, 2009.

On March 12, 2009, the committee will select the firm most qualified to serve as the construction manager at-risk firm and begin negotiations to develop a contract with the firm.

The selection committee consisted of board members John Scheopner and Bruce Reichmuth; Rick Atha (Superintendent); Jerry Bell (Director of Bond Construction and Management); Kathleen Whitley (Financial Officer); Stewart Nelson (architect); Jim French (architect); and Dennis Smith (certified construction manager/consultant).

The board will have a special meeting March 23 to review the construction manager at-risk information, including a summary of the interviews and the requests for proposals from each firm.

The Board of Education approved the Construction Management At-Risk as the appropriate project delivery system for the bond projects. The following people will serve on the selection committee: Two Board of Education members; Rick Atha (Superintendent); Jerry Bell (Director of Bond Construction and Management); Kathleen Whitley (Financial Officer); Stewart Nelson (architect); Jim French (architect); and Dennis Smith (certified construction manager/consultant).

The purpose of this committee will be to narrow the field of firms interested in serving USD 457 as a Construction Manager At-Risk to the best qualified candidate.

The Board of Education approved the purchase of approximately 121.36 acres located north of Mary Street and east of Campus Drive for a total cost of $999,000 ($8,323 per acre) for the purpose of building a new high school. The south border of this land acquisition will be 450 feet north of Mary Street.

The Board of Education previously approved an option to purchase approximately 92.22 acres at a total cost of $590,000 ($6,398 per acre) at the same location.

There were a number of factors that the Board considered in the approval of this new option. There were four main points in the purpose for extending the location of the new high school further to the south and adding to the number of total acres purchased for the location of the new high school.

1. FEMA has recently declared the north part of the proposed property purchase in a flood plain. By purchasing the property approximately a quarter mile further south, the new high school will be raised 25-30 feet and will no longer be in a flood plain.

2. By extending the property further south, to 450 feet north of Mary Street, the District can now have an entrance / exit to Mary Street as well as an entrance / exit to Campus Drive.

3. By extending the property further south, the cost for sewer access, utility access, excavation, and street construction will be reduced significantly.

4. By continuing to own the northern portion of the property, the District will be able to obtain water rights to irrigate the property and have access to a lift station for future development.

The Board of Education approved a resolution that would allow the sale of $10 million in bonds to cover a portion of the long-range facility plan. The board also decided to manage the work involved with the $92.5 million high school project, with an option of going through a new process called "construction management at-risk." The management at-risk approach holds the construction manager accountable for keeping the project on budget.

Finney County’s canvassing is complete and the results of Tuesday’s election are finalized. The bond issue passed with 51.43 percent of the vote, with citizens voting 4,686-4,426 in favor of the question. The results before counting the provisional ballots had shown a vote count of 4,577-4,354 in favor.

The voters of Garden City have passed the bond for the district's long range facilities plan 4,577 to 4,354. Thank you for your support.