Another site will be sought for West Clark alternative school

Clark County

Discussion

October 10, 2008

By TARA HETTINGER The News and Tribune Fri Oct 10, 2008, 10:32 AM EDT

BORDEN — Instead of accepting construction bids for the West Clark Education Center, the West Clark Community Schools Corp. School Board voted 4 to 1 to put the project on hold while more sites are researched.

Board President Sandy Furnish Banet was the only board member voting against the motion at Thursday night’s meeting, which was held at Borden Jr./Sr. High School.

The center — which is planned to serve as the corporation’s alternative school — was planned to be at the former Sellersburg Elementary School building, in downtown.

“I just have a problem with taking a 100-year-old building and sticking $2.6 [million] into it, because you still have a 100-year-old building [in the end],” Brian Hurst, board member, said.

The school is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and there is not a main entrance that can be secured to protect students. Superintendent Monty Schneider said those things were not issues when the building was constructed years ago. Now, any renovations would have to include those changes as well as other upgrades.

“This building has been a part of old Sellersburg for a long, long time,” Furnish Banet said. “I think Larry [Timperman, the architect] was putting a lot of pride into it ... to make it last another 100 years.”

Furnish Banet talked about all the upgrades that would make it a perfectly sound structure with all the technology needed for a school.

Timperman said he’s brought other old buildings up to code before.

“It would be a very fine building,” he said.

After the meeting, Hurst said he feels that kind of money could be spent better. He said he believes the corporation could get a building to house the alternative school as well as possibly a special needs area for less than the projected $2.6 million.

He said the project has taken about two years to get to this point, and before the board was following the advice of the former Superintendent, Terry Smith.

“At the time, none of us were too excited [with the site],” he said. “But he thought it was best for West Clark.”

Hurst said once the figures added up to millions, he decided to get back to the drawing board and see what other sites can be found.

“I just think we need to be more responsible with the taxpayers money,” he said. “I’m hoping we can do it for less than a million [dollars].”

Numbers are up

West Clark has broken the 4,000 mark with its enrollment for the first time, according to R. Mac Dyer, assistant superintendent of business.

Last year, the school system had 3,800 students. Schneider had said he was hoping for an increase of 100, but was happy to see even more.

“I think it goes to show that West Clark is a good place to live and people are still coming here,” he said.

Furnish Banet said the growth supports the board’s decision to build a Early Childhood Development Center as well as expand other buildings.

“I really think that we as a board are doing the right thing to alleviate some of the numbers,” she said.

Also at the meeting

• Dyer told the board that he estimates that the corporation suffered anywhere from $43,000 to $50,000 worth in damages from last month’s wind storm. He said insurance will cover everything after the deductible is met and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency may pick up the cost of the deductible.

• The next board meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30, at the administration building in Sellersburg. The board will hold its budget hearing during that time.