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Finding The Right Mix: Building New Schools and Designating Schools as Year-Round
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The Wake County Public School System is expected to gain 7,000 new students next year, bringing total enrollment to 127,513. WCPSS is projected to add 40,000 students in five years and 72,000 by 2015. This incredible growth, on top of existing overcrowding and rising construction costs, means that Wake County schools are short 15,000 classroom seats today, and will need another 58,000 seats by 2010 and another 91,000 seats by 2015.
How did we get to this point? Let me set the stage.
* Since the current building program (PLAN 2004) was developed a few years ago, the enrollment projection for 2008-09 has gone up 18,800 students and the projection for 2013-14 has increased by 41,000 students.
* This school year, more than 16 percent of our students are in mobile or modular classrooms systemwide. At the elementary school level, one in four students are in mobile/modulars. Mobile and modular classrooms still provide a good learning environment -- that's not the issue. The issue is that the overwhelming number of units overtaxes a campus' core spaces, such as the media center, cafeteria and bathrooms. WCPSS' goal is to have eight percent of students in mobile or modular classrooms by 2012. (You don't want to completely get rid of the units because they provide the district some flexibility.)
Recognizing that there are only a few places remaining where we could add mobile/modulars, school system staff looked at providing classroom seats through various combinations of new construction and increasing capacity at existing schools by designating them as year-round.
Although converting schools to the year-round calendar alone won't solve our crowding problems, they can house approximately 20 to 30 percent more students than schools on a traditional schedule because three of four groups of students are in session and one group is on break at any given time. Also, the more year-round schools we designate, the fewer new schools we'll need to build.
Construction costs have risen dramatically since PLAN 2004 was created. This is a volatile time in the construction business. With the reconstruction effort in the Gulf Coast, there's an increased demand for labor and supplies. In late 2002/early 2003, a new elementary school cost approximately $12.3 million, a middle school cost $22.1 million, and a high school cost $36.2 million. Now, those costs have risen 60 to 90 percent.
The sample scenarios cover 2007-2015 -- meaning multiple bond cycles -- and include money for renovations to Wake's 139 existing schools. In January or February, school board members and county commissioners will determine the amount of the next school construction bond, planned for November 2006.
There are an infinite number of combinations, but the five examples below give the school board and county commissioners a starting point for finding the right mix.
Scenario 1
The first scenario involves designating the maximum number of elementary and middle schools to the year-round calendar, including magnets, at a cost of $4.2 billion. WCPSS could designate 91 schools as year-round; 10 schools are not large enough to offer multi-track year-round. Even designating the maximum number, WCPSS would still need to build 50 new schools.
Scenario 2
Under scenario 2, WCPSS would maintain the current percentage of year-round elementary and middle schools (12 percent) by adding groupings of two to three elementary schools with a middle school. At $5.6 billion, Wake would designate one middle school as year-round and build 91 schools, with a significant number of those on the year-round calendar.
Scenario 3
Scenario 3 would designate a sufficient number of elementary and middle schools to year-round to relieve crowding in 2007-2009. For approximately $5 billion, WCPSS would designate 73 year-round schools and build 78 schools on the traditional calendar.
Scenario 4
Scenario 4 is similar to scenario 3 with the exception that the new schools would open on the year-round calendar. For $4.3 billion, WCPSS would designate 73 year-round schools and build 52 new, mainly year-round, schools.
Scenario 5
Scenario 5 is an iteration of the first scenario, designating the maximum number of year-round elementary and middle schools, but reserving approximately 10 schools for traditional calendar options. For $4.2 billion, WCPSS would designate 79 multi-track year-round schools and build 52 schools.
Posted by Kristin Flenniken at 11:03 AM on December 8, 2005 | Leave Feedback
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