Facility Master Planning Workshoppf Minutes

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 – 1:00 p.m.

School Board Meeting Room

Stuart, FL  34994

 

Members Present

Susan Hershey –Chairman

Lorie Shekailo-Vice-Chair

Dr. David Anderson

Nancy Kline

Dr. Sara A. Wilcox, Superintendent

Tom Elfers, School Board Attorney

 

Members Absent

Laurie Gaylord

Katie Gillen, Student Representative (MCHS)

 

Staff Present

Ruth Pietruszewski, Dr. Frank Raffone, Darla Miloszewski, Rodger Osborne, J.Lisle Bozeman, James Copeland, Cathleen Brennan, Steve Rusnak  

 

Public

Harper Aiken Partners, Clemons Rutherford and Associates, Schenkel Shultz, Starmer Rinaldi, Harvard Jolly, Song + Associates, BRPH Architects,

 

Press               PBPost – Mike Bender                          Stuart News – Kelly Tyko

                       

 

MCEA – No representation                  AFSCME – No representation

 

Call to order by the Chairman and Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States.

 

1.          Foundation of Master Plan-(COPY ATTACHED)

Rodger Osborne gave an overview of the master plan. The capacity for schools is 750 students for elementary, 1200 students for middle, and 1800 students for high school.  Space is established by state requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF) and the Martin County School Board approved facility list.  The planning team consists of:  School Board, Superintendent, staff, principals, SAC, committees, community groups, city and county through growth management, utilities, police, fire, architects, and consultants.

 

2.         Process of Master Planning (COPY ATTACHED)

Several conversational meetings were held at each site.  Campus security, functionality of the spaces, and facility equity within the district were of major importance.  Considerations were ADA issues, mechanical systems, life safety issues, traffic patterns, and site conditions.  Each campus was evaluated by the same standards.  Each campus was given a priority of needs based on input by the school community, District staff, and our architects and consultants.  The goal of this workshop is to establish priorities for an annual budget, five-year program, and the District ten to twenty year work program.

 

Board members discussed the district’s needs and priorities.  Consensus was that the availability of funds would determine projects and the time line. Jensen Beach Elementary is projected to have the largest number of new students.  

 

Dr. David Anderson felt the priorities should be for Murray Middle School and Stuart Middle School, instead of targeting projects at the newly built locations.  He commented, “Stuart Middle School has been there since the creation of dirt.”  He stated he would rather build a new school, if the cost of renovating older facilities far exceeded building new.  He commented, “I think I want to see some bulldozing.” 

 

Board members discussed the rising costs of building.  Sue Hershey stated that the price of building an elementary school has tripled in five years.  Rodger Osborne informed board members that construction costs have escalated by 30 percent each year.  Lorie Shekailo expressed concern about finding the funding to meet all the District’s needs.  The District receives most of the money to build schools from impact fees and taxes.  The District is expecting about

2.         Process of Master Planning (Con’t)

$25 million in construction money for the next budget.  Lorie Shekailo suggested the board explore other options for funding. Lorie Shekailo requested an analysis with the pros and cons of different funding sources.  Board members asked Darla Miloszewski, District Finance Director, how much a half-cent sales tax could raise.  Darla responded that the half-cent sales tax could probably raise $75 million over a five year period. Dr. Sara A. Wilcox suggested doing a workshop on the funding piece, prioritizing projects, and discussing funding opportunities.  The workshop was set for Tuesday, May 17th at 10:00a.m. in the School Board meeting room. 

 

3.         Implementation of Master Plan (COPY ATTACHED)

A district priority list must be established from the list of needs at each school site.  Rodger Osborne presented slides on a Master List of Needs by school site.  He thanked the architectural team for going above and beyond with their support.

 

4.         Capital Funding Opportunities (COPY ATTACHED)

Time will be applied through an annual budget, 5-year Budget Plan, or a 10-20 year plan.  Money will be applied at an annual rate beginning with $25,000,000 and increasing at an estimated rate of 3%.

 

5.         Open to the Public   

§         No representation

 

6.         Open to the Board

            Sue Hershey

Asked Board members their opinion on going to one official board meeting per month.  Board members discussed the possibilities of calling additional meetings if they changed to one meeting per month and encountered a situation where they needed another meeting.

 

 Nancy Kline

Emphasized the need for evening meetings to give the public an opportunity to attend and give input. She was fine with reducing the number of meetings, as long as a meeting was scheduled in the evening for public participation.

 

            Lorie Shekailo

Wanted to be sure we had scheduling capabilities to go to the one meeting.  If we did, she was fine with the idea.

           

 

There being no further business to bring before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

_______________________________                    

CHAIR (Sue Hershey)                     

 

 

 

_______________________________

SECRETARY (Sara A. Wilcox, Ph.D.)