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6.0 COMMUNITY INPUT

As part of the school facility master planning process, the consulting team under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools for the Centralia District sought input from the community through a Facility Planning Committee. The Superintendent established a Facility Planning Committee (FPC) to provide feedback to the administrative team throughout the planning process. This Committee was comprised of a cross section of community members and District staff. The District leadership and Facility Planning Committee conducted four work sessions to study information, guide the planning process, and gauge the community’s responses to several emerging long-range school facility planning options. 6.1 Facility Planning Committee

a. In spring 2016, The Centralia School District convened a Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) of 47 members representing staff, community members, parents, and alumni. Further, members of the FPC represented local government and private sector businesses. The FPC responsibility was to identify and prioritize major facility improvement projects for the Centralia School District for the next 5-6 years and to identify specific projects from the plan for a future funding issue to put before voters, possibly as early as spring 2017.

b. The members of the FPC were:

x Aaron Mecham x Andy Justice x Angela Adamo x Anil Prui x Ann Bartel-Heinricher x Bob Fuller x Bonnie Canaday x Candy Hallom x Chief Carl Nielson x Chris Thomas x Chuck Higgins x Dale Pullin x Dan Rich x Don Blair x Ed Petersen x Edna Fund

x Heather Slusher x Hillary Read x James Augustus Smith x Jeannie Crocker x Jeff Thummel x Joe Dolezal x John Elmore x John Murray x Josue Lowe x Joy Rakes x Karen Curtis x Karen Longabaugh x Kelly Stanley x Kristy Vetter x LG Nelson x Lizzy Aliff

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x Lori Fast x Mark Davalos x Mark Read x Mark Westley x Matt McCauley x Mike Kytta/Rick Mack x Patty Dolezal x Paul Charest

x Paul Crowner x Phil Iverson x Reggie Stafford x Steve Ward x Tom Alderson x Vickie Jackson x Wendy Tripp

c. The Committee met four times during the months of May and June 2016. Each meeting was scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and lasted approximately 2 hours.

At the first meeting of the Committee, the consulting team from Nichols Consulting provided the Committee information gathered by the consulting team in March and April. This information included an overview of educational programs offered in the district, enrollment projections, an analysis of capacity, facility assessments (including both physical and functional assessments), and general observations of the facilities by team members. A wealth of detailed information and data behind the information was also provided each FPC member. FPC members were asked to review the information and come to the second meeting prepared to discuss the implications of the information for the Centralia School District.

At the second Committee meeting of the Committee the consultant provided, in response to questions in meeting number 1, information related to current trends in grade configuration around the State of Washington. The consultant also made a presentation of the state School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) which provides partial funding for school modernization and construction projects.

Committee members were divided into smaller teams to discuss the information from the prior meeting and suggest facility improvement projects that were supported by the data in four areas:

x Safety and security

x Capacity/Utilization and Portables

x Physical condition of existing buildings

x Functional adequacy of existing buildings

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Each group reported back to the entire Committee. Their reports showed considerable “internal consistency” between the conclusions of each smaller team. The “project ideas” that were generated by the groups were:

SAFETY AND SECURITY

x Entry control, security, and first responder support through technology x Enclosed walkways between buildings x Flood mitigation x School footprint size consolidation x Lead testing for water x Office entry reconfigurations/site lines x Reduce number of entries x Code upgrades: fire, seismic, air quality x Second exist for classrooms x Secure sites and portables with fencing, lighting, cameras x Improve traffic flow in and out of school sites x Window blinds x Windows in classroom doors

CAPACITY & UTILIZATION

x Acquire land/consolidate elementary schools x Add onto middle school to house 6th grade, go to K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 x Build new high school, add a middle school on site x Build new middle school, old school becomes elementary school x Conduct a survey to determine safe, floodless locations for buildings x Convert Edison elementary school to District Office x Create 4 K-5 schools x Eliminate all portables x Expand non-traditional education delivery i.e. online, new market x Go to K-5, 6-8 grade configuration x Go to K-6, 7-8, 9-12 grade configuration x Modernize and add classrooms to Jefferson/Lincoln and Fords Prairie x Possible uses for Edison: Futurus, D.O., preschool, community space x Staggered sessions to address crowding x Use existing buildings in the community to relocate schools x Washington school relocation to Gold St. tennis courts, adjacent

property, Twin Transit building

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PHYSICAL CONDITION

x Add bathrooms at all schools x Build new high school x Create gyms/multi-purpose rooms at elementary schools x Expand gym at high school x Increase electrical/technology capacity in all schools x Make all schools ADA compliant x Modernize high school x Modernize high school and one elementary school x Modernize Jefferson/Lincoln x Modernize Washington x Provide sufficient parking at all buildings x Resolve bus, auto conflicts x Upgrade HVAC all buildings x Upgrade roofs all buildings

FUNCTIONAL ADEQUACY

x Provide separate lunchrooms/gymnasiums x Increase storage for curriculum in classrooms x Improve technology access x Provide spaces for team teaching x Provide spaces to accommodate futuristic learning x Provide natural light x Provide flexible learning spaces x Improve air quality x Provide STEM friendly spaces x Provide CTE friendly spaces x Provide small group spaces x Increase space for special programs x Provide play sheds x Provide hands on learning opportunities x New market programs at high school

At the third Committee meeting the “project ideas” lists from meeting two were prioritized using a “dot” approach. This methodology allowed each committee member to apply six sticky dots in each of the above project categories in a manner that represented their weighting or prioritizing preferences. The following tables summarize that work:

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SAFETY AND SECURITYCommittee

Priority Score

Entry control, security, and first responder support through technology 41Code upgrades: fire, seismic, air quality 24Improve traffic flow in and out of school sites 24School footprint size consolidation 23Office entry reconfigurations/site lines 21Secure sites and portables with fencing, lighting, cameras 17Flood mitigation 16Reduce number of entries 5Second exist for classrooms 4Enclosed walkways between buildings 3Windows in classroom doors 3Lead testing for water 1Window blinds 0

CAPACITY & UTILIZATIONCommittee

Priority Score

Eliminate all portables 32Build new high school, add a middle school on site, use existing middle school for elementary 30Go to K-5, 6-8 grade configuration 25Modernize and add classrooms to Jefferson/Lincoln and Fords Prairie 22

Add onto middle school to house 6th grade, go to K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 18Build new middle school, old school becomes elementary school 15Expand non-traditional education delivery i.e. online, new market 12Acquire land/consolidate elementary schools 9Possible uses for Edison: Futurus, D.O., preschool, community space 9Conduct a survey to determine safe, floodless locations for buildings 8Use existing buildings in the community to relocate schools 3Convert Edison elementary school to District Office 2Create 4 K-5 schools 2Go to K-6, 7-8, 9-12 grade configuration 2Washington school relocation to Gold St. tennis courts, adjacent property, Twin Transit building 2Staggered sessions to address crowding 0

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PHYSICAL CONDITIONCommittee

Priority Score

Build new high school 50Increase electrical/technology capacity in all schools 31Create gyms/multi-purpose rooms at elementary schools 30Upgrade HVAC all buildings 16Make all schools ADA compliant 15Modernize Jefferson/Lincoln 15Upgrade roofs all buildings 11Provide sufficient parking at all buildings 5Resolve bus, auto conflicts 5Add bathrooms at all schools 3Modernize high school 3Expand gym at high school 1Modernize high school and one elementary school 1Modernize Washington 0

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At the fourth Committee meeting the committee reviewed the “project idea” prioritization generated in meeting #3 to see if any changes needed to be made. All priority ratings remained unchanged.

Jon Gores, with D.A. Davidson, made a presentation on the capital funding process for school districts including probable tax rate implications of various hypothetical bond amounts. That information is located in Appendix “D”.

The consultant presented “order of magnitude” cost estimates for various prototypical projects as a method of orienting the committee to current construction cost trends in the region. The following table summarizes those cost projections.

FUNCTIONAL ADEQUACYCommittee

Priority Score

Improve technology access 37Provide STEM friendly spaces 30Provide separate lunchrooms/gymnasiums 29New market programs at high school 21Provide flexible learning spaces 19Provide natural light 11Provide CTE friendly spaces 11Improve air quality 10Provide spaces to accommodate futuristic learning 4Provide small group spaces 4Increase space for special programs 4Increase storage for curriculum in classrooms 3Provide spaces for team teaching 2Provide play sheds 2Provide hands on learning opportunities 1

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6.2 Facility Planning Committee Recommendations

At the end of the four-meeting process, the Planning Committee made the following recommendations:

6.2.1 The District should initiate a grade configuration study to establish policy that would provide important guidance to the facility planning process moving forward. There could be significant impact on building capacities and utilization resulting from this work. A final facilities plan needs to be informed by the results of this work.

6.2.2 The District should complete its educational master plan in order to clarify policy and practices that will influence the nature of various contemplated capital projects.

6.2.3 The District should convene a “bond committee” to begin to define potential projects for a possible bond in the spring of 2017. The content of that bond should be guided by the findings of this plan as well as the results of a grade configuration review and educational master plan update.