SILOAM SPRINGS -- School Board members informally agreed a new school administration building should be the district's next construction project during a meeting Wednesday and voted to authorize Superintendent Jody Wiggins to begin negotiation to purchase land for it.
Board members discussed the best way to use the money the district is saving by refinancing two bonds during the meeting. The new building was one of three projects Wiggins presented to School Board members. Other options were a baseball, softball and tennis facility, and an indoor athletic facility.
"All of these issues have been with us for a while and we have been hoping and planning," Wiggins said. "I see we have the ability to address one, possibly quickly, and then prioritize the other two so that as we get money we can hopefully, possibly address all of them."
The district is saving $4.69 million over the next 20 years by reissuing the bond and most of the savings -- $2.1 million -- will be realized this year.
State laws only allow the district to carry a 20 percent budget surplus from one year to the next and anything over 20 percent must be put in the building fund and designated for a use, Wiggins said. The district was already close to the 20 percent threshold before the savings on the bond payments were realized, he said.
The district has $1 million in its building fund not designated for future projects, chief financial officer Terry Raskiewicz said. She projected the district could end the year with an additional $500,000 in budget savings, but there are still several wild cards that could change the amount, she said.
"The money we have in savings this year, in and of itself, won't cover any one of the proposals," Wiggins said.
Over the past few decades the district has added and renovated schools and is at a point where the needs for academic spaces are being met, he said. The district recently upgraded the transportation and food service facilities, he said.
Building a 12,000- to 15,000-square-foot administrative building is projected to cost between $2.4 and $3 million, according to documents Wiggins presented. The district would need to purchase 2 acres for the project.
The district has two central office buildings on Dogwood Street and administrative offices are housed at buildings throughout the district. One of the buildings on Dogwood Street was purchased in 1986 and the other in the early 2000s. Both were renovated in 2011, Wiggins said.
A larger administrative office would allow departments -- such as special education, English as a second language, gifted and talented, and nursing to join the departments -- to be housed at the central office, he said. Presently, when the district has administrative team meetings they have to travel to one of the school buildings, he said.
The maintenance and transportation departments wouldn't likely move because they have recently renovated space tailored to their needs, he said.
"Pulling everyone else together under one roof would help us with communication and consistency across all our departments," Wiggins said.
Shane Patrick, director of operations, said the district would like any administrative space to last for at least 30 to 50 years and handle immediate growth for the next 10 to 15 years, with possible expansion later.
Adding the proposed baseball, tennis and softball facility on 12 acres north of the high school the district purchased for that purpose in 2018 would cost an estimated $2.5 to $3.5 million, according to the documents. It would include baseball and softball fields with lighting and bleachers with seating for 150 people, as well as eight tennis courts, restrooms, a concession stand, custodial closet and a parking lot.
The district uses city baseball and softball fields for practice and games, and uses John Brown University's tennis courts, he said.
The proposed indoor athletic facility would be attached to the football fieldhouse and cost an estimated $2.5 to $5 million, the board documents state.
At the end of the two-hour discussion, board members asked Wiggins for his recommendation.
"If you are asking me, for efficiency of the district and our overarching goal of teaching and educating kids, I think the administrative office is something we direly need to pull us together as a district and get a more cohesive team and plan in place for the education of kids," Wiggins said. "That's not discrediting baseball, tennis, softball or the indoor facility either. I think all of those things have great benefit to our kids and our community."
Board members Grant Loyd, Connie Matchell, Travis Jackson and Audra Farrell spoke in favor of working on the administrative office first and making the softball, baseball and tennis complex the second priority and the indoor practice facility the third priority. Board President Brian Lamb said he needed more time to consider the possibilities.
"I think we've kicked that can down the road to whenever, whenever, whenever for years. I can attest to the fact that it would be very, very helpful to have everybody in one spot," said Matchell, who worked as a district administrator before retiring in 2015.
Lamb said he appreciates the sacrifice administrators have made over the years.
"Everybody realizes that kids come first but at some point, like you are saying, (building a new administrative office has) got to happen," he said.
Jackson pointed out students will benefit from administrators working more cohesively together.
"I think as Jody said, in the grand scheme of things, all the kids will benefit from something like this, so kids do come first, so that is a way we can look at it," he said.
NW News on 02/23/2020