When Superintendent Rick Johnston presented the 15 to 20-year facility plan for the Mahomet-Seymour schools to board members on Dec. 4, he stressed that long-term planning is only feasible with maintainable short-term goals.
This backward planning strategy was applied in Johnston’s presentation where he proposed grade levels K-2 and 6-8 be moved out to the 77-acre facility located just off IL-150 on the east side of the Village within 20 years. While he and the current school board will not make those decisions 10 to 20 years down the road, they will be focused on short-term capital projects over the next four-years which will act as both much needed facility upgrades and stepping stones to future projects.
In Johnston’s first year as Superintendent, he, alongside M-S school board members, administration and staff used the design backwards strategy when they adopted a five-year master plan, which implemented many changes to the curriculum, technology structure and safety and security of students, last year.
With the exception of the Middletown Early Childhood Center and administration offices, which will be moved out to the new facility before the beginning to the 2014-2015 school year, each Mahomet-Seymour building can expect maintenance and upgrades over the next four years.
All of the proposed maintenance and upgrades are only suggestions at this time.
The MECC Future’s Committee suggested the district remove the current MECC building once it is evacuated, as the structure requires substantial amounts of work. The committee believes it will cost $650,000 to turn the land into a park setting.
Johnston said it is important to look at the potential life of each building while looking at the repairs or upgrades needed so the district spends the money in a responsible manner.
With schools receiving fewer dollars from the State each year, the Mahomet-Seymour School District relies heavily on the Champaign County Sales Tax dollars for capital projects. In 2009, Champaign County established a one-percent sales tax to help school with construction projects.
Mahomet-Seymour sees between $400-450,000 per year from the sales tax dollars.
They also have a TORT fund available for infrastructures which help with liability issues, such as security. The school also has a Health/Life/Safety fund which they use for the health, life and safety of the facilities and the students and staff who work in the facilities.
In 2011, the board spent $2M in sales tax dollars to purchase the 77-acre property. In 2013, they spent $475,000 for district-wide technology and security upgrades. The $14M early childhood center was also completely funded by sales tax dollars.
In the board meeting on Dec. 4, Johnston recommended the board use Health/Life/Safety Funds in the summer of 2014 and 2015 to upgrade the three sets of Lincoln Trail bathrooms at $108,000 each.
When asked about the most pressing issue at Lincoln Trail, Director of Facility Services Shane Truitt said the HVAC system needed repair. As of right now, the board sees the Lincoln Trail building as an asset to the school district. They hope to address the heating and cooling system within six to 10 years.
Johnston understands the discomfort in Lincoln Trail, while he also recognizes the discomfort levels in Sangamon and MSJHS. The district placed sensors in the schools last year to gauge temperatures levels in both the end of summer heat and the cold of winter.
“Controlling the heat on the aged boiler system is a tough one,” he said. “It’s either on or off in all three of these buildings. That’s steam heat, and it’s dated. It’s not ideal and it’s not very good.”
The lower level of the junior high near the courtyard and the upper floor at Sangamon were identified as the most troubling areas.
“Everyone believes adding onto (the new early childhood center) and taking Sangamon out there, is the next phase we will focus on,” Johnston said. “When that happens, there are a lot of things that need to come into play. We need to look at the property and the value of the property. In the meantime, we need to be mindful of what we do.”
While it will be between 2016 and 2019 before Sangamon can be added onto the new childhood center, the district plans to use $53,000 in sales tax funds for air conditioning on the second floor of Sangamon. Nearly $18,000 of the $53,000 will be used for electrical upgrades. The rest of the money will be used for commercial-grade window units.
The board believes this will not only enhance the educational experience for children August and September, but it will also add to the value of the property for resale when the building moves.
Using sales tax dollars, the board would also like to add air conditioning units to the inner 15 rooms and the library at MSJHS in the summer of 2014.While this unit will not give heat-relief throughout the school, it will address what has been identified as the hottest area in the district while also giving students the opportunity to cool down while they are in those classrooms. The music wing of MSJHS also has air conditioning.
The board has also identified district technology upgrades to interactive white boards and wireless doc cameras alongside maintenance in the high school kitchen dish room for the summer of 2014.
Potential 2015 projects would include MSHS auditorium renovation, which would include new seating, curtains and tiles. MSHS Principal Shannon Cheek and Johnston have talked about a plan to relocate lockers in the common area to create a library media center which would reflect an educational space for today’s learning environment.
Johnston emphasized that both the four-year capital projects and the 20-year plan are based on a conservative financial model. He stressed that he does not want to see tax-rates go up or for the district to back-load the bonding to lay the burden on tax payers in the future.
“When we look at what we have available, it’s built on the model of zero growth,” he said. “Right now, the sales tax revenue has been going up historically, but we’re not figuring that into our revenue. We are trying to plan the projects around what we can do short term with a no-growth model.”
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