Harrison district to vote on 4.9 mills for school construction

Architectural plans to expand Harrison High School include building a new gymnasium and auditorium, and remodeling the performing arts spaces into classroom space for ninth-graders.

Harrison School District proposes to raise the district's millage rate by 4.9 mills, from 34.3 mills to 39.2 mills, to move forward on a plan to discontinue use of its outdated junior high school, and to make room at the middle school and high school for grades currently in the junior high school. The proposal goes before voters Sept. 16.

Expanding and renovating the middle school and high school is expected to cost $27 million.

Pending voter approval, Harrison Middle School for fifth and sixth grades also would house the seventh and eighth grades. Ninth-graders would join 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders at Harrison High School.

A mill, which is used to calculate property taxes, is equal to one-10th of a cent. The higher millage would increase the school property tax on a $100,000 home by $98 annually, from $686 to $784.

Superintendent Melinda "Mendy" Moss said the plan is expected to meet the district's needs for at least 15 years.

The Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation has determined that the junior high should no longer be used as a school, Moss said. The facilities that make up the school have exceeded their 50-year life expectancy. The campus has undersized classrooms, outdated electrical and mechanical systems, and does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The district surveyed staff and community members about how to proceed, including whether to build a new campus, Moss said.

District officials settled on a plan to expand and renovate the middle and high schools to house additional grade levels, Moss said.

"It's important to honor your patrons and be able to do the best for the kids but at the same time do it with a reasonable mindset," she said.

The plans call for adding 95,543 square feet to the high school, including 5,255 square feet of classroom space, according to Hight-Jackson Associates. They also include remodeling 21,871 square feet.

The high school's auditorium and gymnasium would be built on a hillside with an upper and lower level for each facility. The lower level of the auditorium would provide new, larger classrooms for band and choir and a classroom large enough for building sets for drama, according to Hight-Jackson Associates.

The changes would occur in phases, Principal Bill Keaster said. The auditorium and gymnasium would likely be built first.

The existing auditorium, band and choir room would be converted into classrooms, primarily for the ninth grade.

"I wish they were already here," Keaster said of plans to move ninth grade to the high school. "It helps the ninth-graders so much academically. That's when their credits for graduation start."

With ninth grade in the junior high, the high school and junior high have to coordinate their master schedules, Keaster said. Ninth-graders ride buses to the high school for courses such as band, agriculture and foreign language, and then return to the junior high.

Additions planned for both ends of Harrison Middle School will allow for fifth- and sixth-graders to be in one wing of the building, with a separate wing for seventh- and eighth-graders.

The plans would add 24,239 square feet to the main building, plus a 10,506-square-foot tornado safe room and physical education facility. Nearly 5,200 square feet would be remodeled.

Moving seventh and eighth grade to the middle school would provide for a more nurturing environment for those students, Moss said.

The middle school schedules classes in blocks of 100 minutes each, Principal Fred Wilson said. Each grade level currently is divided into three teams with at least 75 students in each team and three teachers per team.

"The team concept allows teachers, students and parents to build relationships to strengthen academics and support students," he said. "The proposed changes will allow the seventh- and eighth-graders to continue to develop these relationships in a consistent educational environment until they move onto high school."

Metro on 08/07/2014

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