Board of Education Considers Improvements for Wake Forest Rolesville High
April 15, 2008 - Improvements to Wake Forest Rolesville High School took another step forward today as the Board of Education indicated support for delaying the construction of two elementary schools and re-directing the funding to renovating the high school.Board hears five options
Five options for addressing the renovation of Wake Forest Rolesville High were discussed by Don Haydon, WCPSS Chief of Facilities and Operations, with the board in its facility committee meeting today. Haydon outlined options that ranged from delaying the renovation of the high indefinitely to moving ahead with it now by delaying construction of E-25 and E-31, two proposed elementary schools.
The proposal outlined by Haydon that drew the most interest from board members would provide $61 million for new construction and renovation at Wake Forest Rolesville High. The project would be funded with $11 million from the CIP 2006 Reserve, $24 million from E-25, $20 million from E-31 and $6 million in savings from other CIP 2006 projects. This would delay the opening of E-25 and E-31 elementary schools from 2010 until 2011 and the construction of the two schools would be funded as part of the next school construction program.
Funded in the new construction and renovation at the high school would be a new four-story classroom building. School administrators said they are seeking clarification from Town of Wake Forest officials on parking requirements. They want to know whether town ordinances will require construction of a parking table to provide adequate student parking for the campus.
Students move out for construction
One of the primary reasons for moving forward with the work at Wake Forest Rolesville High now is the opportunity to use Heritage High School as swing space in 2009-10. Students and faculty would be able to move to the newly completed Heritage High campus for the 2009-10 school year. This would benefit the school by keeping students and staff safe and avoiding the disruptions to learning caused by having construction on campus. It allows construction to move faster and more efficiently. Board members agreed that taking advantage of the swing space opportunity would be beneficial.
Haydon noted that Wake Forest Rolesville High students would return to their renovated campus for 2010-11 with final renovations being completed at the campus. In 2010-11, Heritage High would then open with its ninth- and tenth-grade students and could also house the early start opening of the proposed H-6 high school with ninth- and tenth-grade students. Opening of the new Heritage and H-6 high schools may free capacity in existing ninth-grade centers that could then be used for the early start of a new elementary school.
Haydon said the one-year delay in opening E-25 and E-31 would provide ample time for resolution of real estate, access, permitting and public-private partnership issues. E-31 is the proposed Banks Road Elementary School that will be built in Garner. E-25 is the proposed elementary school that would be built near Wake Forest using the public-private partnership method for school construction.
Board members asked for additional review of school construction, improvement and major maintenance projects to consider in light of the funding demands for the Wake Forest Rolesville High project.
School administrators will bring more information to the board when it meets Tuesday to consider action on this proposal.
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