(Lake Park)– The Harris-Lake Park School Board Wednesday evening discussed some possible upcoming facility needs. The board directed representatives with FEH Design to conduct a study, with a report that could be ready for board review this coming December. Superintendent Les Douma tells KUOO news the study will address two options: keeping both the elementary and middle school-high school buildings open and addressing the needs in each; or closing the elementary school, built in the early 1970’s, and building a new elementary building onto the middle school-high school, making it a K-12 facility…
“They’ll talk about the advantages and the disadvantages and that will be important. The efficiencies, are there efficiencies to have everybody under one roof, or not? And it may even talk about financially can we do one or the other. In other words, it could be such a thing our finances drive what our decision really is. But I think the board is leaning forward to moving forward and doing something to our facilities, and it will be pretty major. No matter what we decide it’s going to be pretty major. I think it’s an exciting time for us. So whatever occurs it’s going to be better opportunities for our kids, better facilities. We know we have to do something. Now’s the time with inflation happening and those things occurring we have to do something now and get it done.”
Douma says regardless of the option the board should decide to pursue, a bond referendum will more than likely be needed…
“Our budget just couldn’t deal with all of the facilities issues, so it will be a bond issue, but it probably wouldn’t happen until next September. I think that’s the appropriate time. And what we need to see then are what would things look like, what would one building look like, what would two buildings look like. We kind of know that already but we’ll also know what the facility needs are of that elementary building, what needs to be done there, but I think it’s going to take a bond referendum, yeah.”
The board also voted Wednesday evening to get bids to replace the roof on the middle school-high school building. The project has an estimated cost of around $900,000. Plans call for that project to get underway next summer.
