In a letter sent to families of East, Moreau Heights and Thorpe Gordon elementary students, Jefferson City Public Schools' Board of Education listed three upcoming information sessions about proposed boundary line re-drawings as a potential immediate solution to overcrowding at East.
Those meetings are scheduled for:
- 5:30 p.m. today at East Elementary's gym.
- 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Thorpe Gordon Elementary's gym.
- 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Moreau Heights Elementary's gym.
Parents and guardians of children at these schools who are unable to attend a meeting at their child's school are welcome to attend any of the sessions.
The letter was sent to parents before the board's meeting Monday night at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. No action on re-drawing boundary lines was taken at the meeting, but the board made clear it wants to examine the issue and take action on it as an agenda item at the next regular meeting Feb. 13 at Simonsen 9th Grade Center.
"There's immediate need," JCPS Superintendent Larry Linthacum told the News Tribune, and it "makes sense to us" to address it in this way because "it balances up these three elementary schools."
The board noted Monday the plan would eliminate the need for a classroom trailer for two first-grade classes at East, starting with the 2017-18 school year.
As presented at Monday's board meeting, 66 students would be moved from East by the proposed re-drawing of boundary lines, bringing that school's student population down from 403 to 337.
The number of students at Thorpe Gordon would increase by 57 from 289 to 346, and Moreau Heights would see an increase of nine students from 354 to 363.
Some community members expressed their dissatisfaction with the proposed re-drawing solution Monday night.
"We can move kids, but (overcrowding) would still be a problem," Patsy Johnson said.
Linthacum said the plan to address overcrowding is "not the final result" for East, but "a step in the right direction."
"We don't just want a quick fix," he added, noting the district will continue to look at boundary lines on a regular basis. "We will continue to evaluate facilities each year."
District scales back levy increase request
The board lowered its proposed request for a $1.20 tax levy increase on the April 4 election ballot to $1.10 Monday. The 10-cent decrease comes out of the proposed operating levy ballot question - more specifically, the portion of that operating levy intended to fund continuing needs of the existing K-12 system.
Linthacum said this means the 10 cents is coming out of the budget for annual facility renovations. If the 65-cent bond issue tax levy increase is passed in April, he said, that increase would take care of facility renovations every four years instead, through no-tax increase bond issues.
He said the 10 cents would have generated approximately $1 million a year.
Board President John Ruth described the bond issue increase as an annuity that will pay the district $40 million every four years, allowing them to take care of bigger budget needs like building new elementary schools - but without having to raise taxes again.
Architects selected
The board also selected three architectural firms Monday for its proposed high school projects.
A trio of companies - local firm Architects Alliance and regional players ACI Boland and DLR Group - were recommended and accepted as partners on the projects.
JCPS CFO and COO Jason Hoffman said conversations with the firms have assured the district the three-way partnership will not raise costs on the proposed projects.
He said the benefit of having three firms was having a local one, Architects Alliance, that knows the district well and two regional ones with a lot of expertise.
Board member Pam Murray said she was unhappy with the amount of oversight board members had on vetting and selecting the final firms to be recommended.
"I don't think we do ourselves a favor when we rubber stamp things," Murray said.
However, Ruth said, "we as a board of directors" give power to have recommendations made to them by district officials like Hoffman.
Board member Lorelei Schwartz said she was satisfied with the due diligence she had done herself on the picks.
Ultimately, Murray and board member Michael Couty voted against the motion to approve the three firms.
Some community members also expressed Monday they weren't satisfied with not having any renderings or other visualizations of the proposed projects available yet.
Schwartz said she would personally love to share "beautiful renderings" but also felt bound by taxpayers who would then question having to pay for those same renderings.
Linthacum said he doesn't know an exact date when renderings might be available, but the district is meeting the three architectural firms this week.
Other upcoming meetings
The board will meet to certify its April ballot questions at 7 a.m. Jan. 19 at the board offices at 315 Dunklin St.
While the board cannot certify anything until after the Tuesday deadline for school board candidates to file, the board did approve the ballot language for its bond issue and operating levy questions Monday.
The board will host a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at East Elementary, as part of its continuing outreach efforts for the April ballot questions, Linthacum said.
He also said this will give people in the community a chance to see conditions at East for themselves, after several community members expressed dissatisfaction with the school's conditions at Monday's board meeting.
After the board's next regular meeting Feb. 13, a work session is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the board offices.