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Freeman seeking $19.5 million bond

Part of the Freeman High Band marches on Jackson Road in front of the school Monday afternoon. The $19.5 million levy will address safety of mixed pedestrian, school bus and car traffic in the high school parking lot and on Jackson Road, both which creates multiple hazards for students. (J. BART RAYNIAK Photos / The Spokesman-Review)
By Nina Culver nculver47@gmail.com
Part of the Freeman High Band marches on Jackson Road in front of the school Monday afternoon. The $19.5 million levy will address safety of mixed pedestrian, school bus and car traffic in the high school parking lot and on Jackson Road, both which creates multiple hazards for students. (J. BART RAYNIAK Photos / The Spokesman-Review)

For the fourth time in six years, the Freeman School District will attempt to pass a bond to pay to upgrade aging buildings and make safety improvements. Two previous attempts in 2002 and one in 2005 failed, with the second attempt coming within 1.5 percent of the needed 60 percent approval.

The district has an elementary school, middle school and high school clustered at Highway 27 and Jackson Road. The elementary school has had no major remodeling since its construction in 1970. The school still has its original boiler, plumbing, heating and electrical systems. The story is the same at the high school, which was built in 1957. The building had additions in 1978 and 1989, but the core of the building hasn’t seen improvement.

A $19.5 million bond is on the May 20 ballot, which will hit mailboxes this week. The 20-year bond would cost an additional $1.59 per $1,000 in assessed home value, on top of the current 91 cent per $1,000 bond which will expire this year. The district qualifies for $10.5 million in matching funds from the state, making up the difference for the $30 million project.

The elementary school faces a host of problems. Custodians have to pop out ceiling tiles when the weather gets cold to allow heat to circulate so the water pipes don’t freeze. The windows are single-pane. Each classroom has its own door to the outside and there’s often a gap visible around the doors. “There’s a lot of heat loss,” said night custodian Steve Higgins. The old boiler still chugs along with only the occasional emergency alarm, but a newer one would be up to 20 percent more efficient. “Hopefully this dinosaur will go in the scrap yard somewhere,” Higgins said.

The numerous doors in the elementary school also present a safety hazard. They can’t be locked during the day because students go to and from portable classrooms and to the middle school, which houses a shared library. In return, middle school students must travel to the elementary for lunch in the only cafeteria, which is really just a gym pressed into use as a lunch room. The kitchen was designed to service about 250 kids per day. It now feeds 400.

The construction plan calls for a new cafeteria to connect the adjoining middle school and elementary school. “That alleviates a big security issue,” said bond committee co-chairwoman Kate Coomes. “Our playground is right there. The security in the elementary school is an issue. It’s the way the school is designed.”

The plan also calls for a new bus parking area – essentially a giant carport – next to the elementary school. Buses currently are parked behind the high school. “In the event of a lockdown, it’s virtually impossible to get the buses out,” said bond committee co-chairman John Zingg.

Four new classrooms would be added to the elementary school and a second floor housing between four and six classrooms would be added to the high school. The high school would get a new gym, with one of the old gyms converted to a weight-lifting/shop area. Both schools would also get extensive internal remodeling, bringing them up to code. The schools don’t have sprinkler systems and aren’t accessible by people with disabilities. “It’s what’s called aggressive reconstruction,” Zingg said. “When we’re done and you walk in the building, you’ll think it’s brand new.”

The roofs on both schools leak, particularly the high school. When it rains hard, garbage cans are set up in the gym to protect the floor. One leak is directly over the high school’s electrical room. The electrical equipment is kept cool with a $20 department store fan aimed directly at it. The high school’s cafeteria is tiny, forcing students to eat in the hall. When the school was built, the pipes were installed below the concrete slab. When a pipe breaks, there’s no way to fix it. New water pipes have to be placed in the classroom ceilings. “It’s too expensive to drill down into the concrete,” Coomes said.

The construction plans call for the high school to be redone first, beginning in spring 2009. The project is expected to take 16 months. When that is complete, the elementary project is expected to be done in 12 months. Some areas would be converted to temporary classrooms and portables will be brought in to house students during the construction phase. “It will be a challenge, probably more for the adults rather than the children,” said Superintendent Sergio Hernandez.

The lists of things that need to be dealt with are long and bond committee members are hoping the bond passes this time. The cost of the bond was originally estimated at $8 million in 2002. With inflation and rising materials cost, the project now stands at $30 million. “I’m an outsider,” said Zingg. “I’ve never had kids here. I’m absolutely convinced it’s not a bells and whistles program.”

If the bond fails, the district has no choice but to try again. “We know it needs to happen,” Hernandez said. “We’ll need to run it again. Is it today or is it tomorrow is the question.”