MEDINA, Ohio - Highland Board of Education members are thinking about the next 90 years as they return their attention to replacing the district's aging elementary school buildings.
Superintendent Catherine Aukerman invited William Prenosil, senior planning administrator for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, to talk about the design process during the board's meeting last night.
Prenosil outlined a process called "Educational Visioning," which brings together a group of 30 to 50 stakeholders to review 21st century teaching models, discuss how the district would like to address student learning, and determine building designs that would best meet those needs.
William Prenosil, senior planning administrator for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, shows how the West Muskingum Local Schools designed their school floor plan to reflect 21st century teaching models. Prenosil shared a presentation on Educational Visioning with the Highland Board of Education last night.
The presentation came as the school district is preparing to revisit replacing Sharon, Granger and Hinckley elementary schools and renovating Highland Middle School.
Two years ago, a community committee recommended that the school board seek a bond issue for the project. Since then, the district has conducted environmental, asbestos and enrollment studies, Aukerman said.
"The original consensus from the committee was to build three new schools. Since then, we've heard some people in the community asking about whether it should be two new schools or just one large one," she said.
Two years ago, 60 percent of respondents to a 500-person survey said they wanted to keep one elementary school in each of the district's three townships.
Reducing the number of schools to two would mean one township would be without a school. And consolidating all 1,500 elementary school students into one central location could cause logistical problems, Aukerman said.
The district will do another survey of 500 random residents in January to see if the three-school model is still what the community wants.
"We want to make sure that's what the commitment from the community is. We just want to double check," Aukerman said.
Once the survey results are in, the board will consider when and if to put a bond issue on the ballot.
Timing will be key. The school district also has an operating levy renewal coming up, as early as next fall, "which we certainly hope the community will support," Aukerman said.
"We don't want to confuse voters by talking about both the operating levy and the bond issue at the same time," she said.
Still, replacing the elementary school buildings needs to happen sooner rather than later, she said.
Sharon Elementary School has been standing for 94 years. Granger Elementary School is 87 years old, and Hinckley Elementary is 67. The middle school - which would be renovated under the plan - is in its 57th year.
Aukerman noted that the buildings have numerous structural issues and cannot be refitted to support emerging educational technology and 21st century teaching strategies.
"It's just not possible in our current facilities. The time has come. These buildings have served everyone well for 80, 90 years," she said.
She said it would be important to keep in mind that the new schools might last the district another 90 years.
"How do we position that space for the future? What do we want that to look like? It's just good to start thinking about this," Aukerman said.
Board President Norman Christopher said it would be important to keep the community engaged in the process.
That's where the state's Educational Visioning process could come in.
Prenosil said the three-day process brings together school administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, students, community members and business leaders to learn about the latest teaching models and educational research.
The group then discusses what kind of learning environment would work best for the district, then talks about how a school's building design could accommodate that into the future.
Cost for the session through the OFCC would be $20,000 to $25,000 for the three days.
"The issue has been that facilities really have not been designed differently since the '50s," Prenosil said.
Traditional schools consist of hallways lined on both sides with individual classrooms. This is the style of Highland's current elementary schools.
Many school districts are revising that design to accommodate student-centered learning environments, team teaching and project-based learning, creating flexible, open spaces and learning "pods" containing classrooms, small-group spaces, science laboratories and presentation areas.
Prenosil urges school districts to "take a couple steps back and think about how we're educating children. Let's think about what we've done and think about where we're going in the future."
"You have to have some kind of consensus on these big ideas before you begin the design. Ideally, your architect should be at these sessions," he said.
The school districts that have adopted the new, more open designs "are radically different from your typical school," he said.
"It creates really exciting spaces. The kids love these spaces," he said.
But every school district is different, which is why it's important to evaluate what works and what doesn't and make decisions about future educational philosophies before committing to a building design, Prenosil said.
"You may decide you don't want to change anything, and that is all right. But at least you've talked about it," he said.
"You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you're going to do this, take a few extra days to think about it," he said.