SHIVE HATTERY ENGINEERS EXPLAIN PROCESS BY WHICH PROPOSED SCHOOL PROJECTS PLAN WILL DEVELOP

A Thursday night meeting set to "kick off" what will be the research and design process for a proposed solution to the school facilities dilemma met with great interest. The informational session, led by Shive Hattery engineers Doug DuCharme and Erik Hendrikson, offered insight as to the planning processes that lie ahead in the next five months.
A diverse crowd attended the meeting, and included representatives of the ACSD Board of Education, school administration, school facilities advisory committee, city council, senior citizens, the buildings and grounds coordinator, and other interested individuals, all of whom intend to work cooperatively to see that the project not only meets educational needs within the district, but also provides a means by which various community needs can be met. Suggestions include a senior dining center, community center or even a possible relocation of City Hall to the current junior high building.
Though project plans are still processes away from being finalized, the school facilities committee does envision a facilities design, incorporating both new construction and renovation of current structures, that will not only meet the educational needs of the traditional student, but make available certain areas and equipment for continuing adult education or community meetings. The same plans would include a relocation of junior high students to the high school campus, making available the current junior high building to meet some of the needs previously mentioned.
School facilities committee members, now prepared to work cooperatively with Shive Hattery, the engineering firm hired to oversee the school facilities project, to put pen to paper, hope that their proposal, when made, will facilitate a design in which the entire community can take ownership.
However, this process of putting ideas into design, according to Shive Hattery engineer Doug DuCharme, will be an extensive one.
As part of Thursday night's meeting, DuCharme outlined the processes that will be necessary to design a project plan that will implement the needs of both students and faculty in providing quality education in a changing environment. DuCharme expressed the importance of not only meeting current demands and standards in terms of computer space, electricity, classroom sizes and so on, but to research educational trends in an effort to better prepare for future needs, as well.
"The times of the 'sage on the stage,' as it was once termed, have passed," said DuCharme. "We're finding that education has become much more interactive, mainly with the use of computers. Given this trend, we may, at some point in the future, see a time when each student carries his/her own laptop. The school must be designed in a way that will accommodate these trends."
As part of the initial project planning process, DuCharme stated that engineers would, during two day-long meetings in August, meet with school personnel from each of the various departments, i.e. faculty, administration, custodians and nutritional services, to help determine program and facility needs, trends and projections.
"This project will represent a major change for the district; we don't want to charge ahead too quickly," said DuCharme of the interviewing process. "This is more than just building classrooms...a lot more."
DuCharme further explained the need for 'possibility thinking,' or planning for the future by designing facilities that are flexible in structure in terms of room sizes, giving the example of implementing some non-structural walls as opposed to block walls into project plans; conductive to community access and use; energy efficiency; provide adequate administrative space to facilitate the needs of a more diverse staff, i.e. grant writers, court liaisons or other temporary or part-time staff; meet classroom restrictions; and meet technological needs.
According to DuCharme, engineers will also visit each of the district's five sites to observe the conditions in an effort to ascertain the cost impact at each facility given each building's age, necessary construction, working conditions, phasing issues, and severity of needs. Interviews will then be held with site administrators to both discuss and verify the scope of needs at each school.
Engineers will also study educational trends for rural school districts, in addition to analyzing recommended project plans specific to Allamakee Community School District for their impact on school operations and activities and researching alternative solutions that may be more economical, as well as beneficial combinations for cost efficiency.
Once a final plan is in place, anticipated in October or November, a conceptual designs package outlining improvements at each facility will be drawn, according to DuCharme. Such renderings and floor plans will be used as aids in an extensive community education process that will precede a call for a bond referendum.
At the same time, engineers will also develop an opinion of probable costs for each school project based on the scope of each project, scheduling and phasing restrictions, current costs on a unit price basis, and potential escalation of costs that may be incurred as each project is actually implemented.
A final process, then, will be to assemble a long-range plan for each school site within the district. Such a plan would include overall goals and objectives for each site, individual project requirements, background information relevant to facility improvements, a detailed listing of projects proposed for each facility, a preliminary expenditure plan for the improvement period at each site, and a conceptual designs package individual to each site.
The community will be called upon, then, in late-November or December to commit to "A Foundation for the Future," the theme for the project, by approving a bond referendum to fund project plans. The amount of funding necessary is yet undetermined as project plans must first be finalized before a reasonable cost estimate can be provided.
In explanation of the extensive planning process behind the school facilities project, DuCharme stated, "In the event of a bond referendum, we'll have one shot to get voter approval. It's imperative that we do our homework to assure that all needs are being met. The last thing we want to have happen is to have to come back to voters and request more money, saying, 'I guess we didn't think of that.'"
The community will continue to be informed of project plans as they develop through presentations of the school facilities committee, news articles and other mediums.