The Light Up Sellersburg celebration will be held on Friday, November 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. at 101 New Albany Street in Sellersburg.
by JANNA ROSS
Managing Editor
Clark County voters again fought less than
perfect weather last Tuesday to make their personal opinions count in the
recent General Election. Many local races were making headlines and becoming
topics of discussion at lunch tables and breakfast get-togethers. The Clark
County Sheriff’s race was locally one of the hottest races along with the
third match up of Mike Sodrel and Baron Hill for the Indiana Ninth District
Congressional seat.
by JANNA ROSS
Managing Editor
Green Banner Publications
Local citizens were talking up the election in the days
and weeks prior to last Tuesday’s General Election. Many were talking about
the advertisements on local television stations and in local newspapers. Other
conversations were made around the many phone calls residents were receiving
about the impending election.
by JANNA ROSS
Managing Editor
Green Banner Publications
Concerned citizens in the Greater Clark County Schools
family have been attending community informational meetings for several months.
The meetings held in all communities including Jeffersonville, Charlestown and
New Washington have lead to the 1028 Hearing that was held last night.
The topic of discussion of the recent meetings have been the Greater Clark
County Schools School Facility Renovation and Construction Project.
The initial project is designed to bring the high schools up to date with
technology and building upkeep.
The Charlestown community will see the construction of a new high school while
the community of New Washington will see renovations to the current building.
The actual project began approximately three years ago according to Dr. Thomas
W. Rohr, Superintendent of Greater Clark County Schools.
"The project started about three years ago. The Board of School Trustees
hired me about three and a half years ago. We hired an architect firm, Schmidt
Associates, and they went through each building in the school system,"
stated Dr. Rohr. "They then prepared a report with every facility. From
that report it was decided to address the three high schools in the district
first, Jeffersonville, New Washington and Charlestown High Schools."
The studies from the past three years were three fold- a demographic study,
educational study and a facility study.
The demographic study provided information that the school district enrollment
is expected to increase almost 1,000 students by 2013. The number is not taking
into consideration the bridge project or new industry.
The educational study included over 100 community members including teachers,
students, parents, administrators, community leaders and elected officials. The
group met numerous times to discuss and develop a comprehensive educational plan
to meet the current and future needs of the Greater Clark County Schools
district.
The facility study included a team of architects and engineers who examined
every building in the district and determined the condition, serviceability and
useful life of each building. An additional task force of community leaders
helped prioritize the results of the facility assessment and developed a plan
to improve the facilities.
According to Dr. Rohr, the average age of the schools in the system is 35 years
old with part of Charlestown High School originally being built in 1951.
"The age of the building, with so much wear and tear, it was becoming a
cost prohibitor without major renovation," Dr. Rohr stated.
Another major reason for project is the projected growth of the communities with
the bridge project and continued construction in the area.
"Growth of the area is another reason. The bridge project will bring major
growth in the area. The Charlestown area is already seeing signs of that. We
must prepare for that now and that was a big factor."
The current site of Charlestown High School is not large enough to accommodate
the growth. Concerns about the high school also include structural and
technology problems.
"There are concerns about mold and the lack of technology. The board
decided to look to build a new Charlestown High School at a property close to
the city of Charlestown," Dr. Rohr added.
The new site of Charlestown High School has yet to be decided. There are four or
five different potential sites according to Dr. Rohr.
The new school, which would need to sit on approximately 100 acres to
accommodate for the parking, athletic fields and access to those, would house
up to 1,200 students. Currently Charlestown High School has an enrollment of
approximately 650 students in grades nine through twelve.
"The growth in the elementary school is a prime example. Pleasant Ridge
already has portable classrooms outside due to the number of students," he
stated. "We plan to build the new building for 900 students with the
potential to go up to 1,200 students."
The plan is to design the school to an extra wing could be added to accommodate
for up to approximately 300 more students.
"With the continued growth and the new bridge project, we fully expect the
need to expand," Dr. Rohr said.
The community seems to be supporting the idea of the construction of a new
school.
"The response has been overwhelming in support of the project. Most people
view it as an investment in the community. The schools will continue to grow and
we must provide the best opportunity to the students," he added. "We
have not had one negative comment in any of the informational meetings. Even
though it will increase the taxes, the community seems to know it is the best
thing to do."
The actual construction of a new Charlestown High School will take between 24
and 30 months. If everything is passed and goes the way it is planned
construction should begin next fall. The goal of Dr. Rohr and the School Board
of Trustees is to open the building in the Fall of 2010.
According to a pamphlet from the Greater Clark County Schools the projected
maximum cost, including all construction costs, professional fees, site
development, inflation, financing costs and contingencies for Charlestown High
School will be $70,713,106.66. The pamphlet explained that due to the unknown
cost of land and site development, the estimate for Charlestown High School may
be overstated. Once the actual costs are determined the Board of Trustees will
revise the cost estimate to reflect the more accurate project cost.
Dick Johnson, Principal at Charlestown High School for the past nine and a half
years, is excited about the prospect of a new high school.
"Students occupied the building in the fall of 1953 with the first class
graduating in the spring of 1954. The construction on the building began in
1951," Johnson stated. "That was a different time with different types
of construction theories of architecture. The technology was also drastically
different. It wasn’t built for computers and printers."
According to the professionals that have studied the school structure the cost
to bring the building up to modern specifications is not too far away from the
actual cost of constructing a new facility.
Johnson is also concerned about the safety issue. Charlestown High School was
built with many doors to the outside. He recalls, when he was teaching at the
school in the early 1970's, the building was not air conditioned.
"It was nothing for the doors to the outside to be left open for some air.
Especially in the really hot days in late August and early September the doors
were left open for circulation. Now that is a safety issue. That was a
different time, a different era," Johnson stated. "There are so many
changes that would have to be made to bring the building up to code."
Johnson said the school sites on approximately 55 acres, which is about half the
recommended acreage for a school the size of Charlestown High School.
When Johnson became the principal at Charlestown High School there were about
500 students. In the past nine and a half years, the enrollment has risen to
650 students.
"We need more facilities and places to put the expected growth of students
with the growth of the area," Johnson added.
"We are not the experts. I look to the professionals just like the
community does for the best solutions. It looks to me that the board and
superintendent has put a lot of time and effort into this project. The board
has tried to lay out all facts at the meetings. They are not trying to force
anything. They’ve been pretty honest and open about the studies,"
Johnson added.
He continued about the community input, "I haven’t heard any negative
comments but that doesn’t mean that are not out there. I haven’t heard any
at the meetings or at the ballgames or other social events at the school. If
they are out there, they have not been said to me. I believe everyone pretty
much realizes that the renovation of a 1951 building would cost almost as much
as a new building."
Johnson feels like Charlestown High School is home. He has been part of the
school in the teaching capacity for 14 and a half years at Charlestown High
School and then his nine and a half years in his current capacity as principal.
Johnson has been part of the Greater Clark County family for 34 and a half
years as in between his stints at Charlestown, he spent 10 and a half years as
assistant principal at New Washington Middle High School.
"I’ve had the privilege of being here (CHS) for almost 25 years, although
not consecutive, and part of the school corporation for 34 and a half years,
before the air conditioning, before the new part of the school was added, and
through several remodels. I’ve seen many, many changes. The professionals say
we need a new building. I think that’s message to the board but it is up to
the community to decide whether to do that or not. The professionals have
examined the issue for the past three years."
The members of the Pirate Pride Booster Club have played an integral part in
the ideas of the construction project.
Carl Chastain, Pirate Pride member, said the group became involved due to the
need of new athletic fields.
"We originally became involved because of the desperate need for new
facilities with the athletics, since that is our primary focus is athletics.
When we first started walking the fields, we quickly realized the dire need of
each of the fields," Chastain recalled.
He added, "There are so many problems. There are tunnels under the school
with standing water, the heating, cooling system, wood trusses, the athletic
fields are so inadequate. Right now it’s land locked so you can’t really do
much with revamping the existing building. Charlestown sits on 55 acres and
needs to have 100 acres to have adequate athletic fields. The whole thing
started with the athletic fields and the real problems including safety then it
got into the condition of the school."
Chastain said the group began complaining to the school board and Dr. Rohr to
upgrade the athletic field. Then the group studied the building and came up
with a list of 75 items, safety items, that had to be fixed in the school.
"They couldn’t be fixed up to the standards. The only way to allow the
growth and performance to happen is to build a new facility," Chastain
said.
Chastain stated the school should be ready in about 10 years and shortly after
that would be the bridge project completion.
"We got involved for all those reasons. It all started when we walked the
athletic fields and it kinda snowballed from there. We have seen a lot of
community support," he added.
Chastain stated he felt that the school is one of the first things new
residents look at when they move into the community.
"When we moved to Nashville, one of the first things we did was to go check
out the school and see if the building was well maintained and it was up to date
technology wise," Chastain stated.
He concluded, "I believe with the new blue print of the building we need
to have a new blue print for the academics. We need a blue print for improving
academics at our school. Our ISTEP scores are not to standards and we need to
make the administrators accountable."
According to the pamphlet from Greater Clark, "Charlestown High School was
originally built in 1951 and has had several additions over the years. The
building simply cannot meet the educational needs of the 21st
century. Most of the mechanical systems are worn out, the classroom space is
inadequate, there is concern about mold and other environmental issues in the
building; safety and security is a concern; the outside athletic facilities are
inadequate and the location does not allow for growth. The Board of School
Trustee has determined that the most cost effective solution is to build a new
Charlestown High School on another site."
The proposed new building will consist of two floors. The first floor will
house classrooms, labs, student services, administration, art, band, music
support and choir, dining, media center, auditorium, stage, pool, fitness and
weights area, main gym, auxiliary gym and lockers. The second floor will
consist of classrooms, science labs, business labs, staff work area and the
upstairs to the main gym.
New Washington Middle High School will undergo a remodel/renovation process
during the Greater Clark County Schools Construction project.
The construction project at New Washington will look to separate the middle and
high school and concentrate more on security.
"We are looking at a renovation/remodel. We’re looking at one of keys
originally is to separate the middle school and high school and what needs to be
done to achieve that," stated Ben Ledbetter, principal at New Washington
Middle High School.
He continued, "In order to do that we need to move the science lab
upstairs and add additional classrooms downstairs. We also need to concentrate
more on security by moving the main office to an area that faces the parking
lot. One part is to move the wrestling, weight room off the second floor and
upgrading and moving the outdoor athletic fields to make them more comparable
to the level of the other two high schools."
When the study began New Washington was looking at a project calculating to 11
or 12 million to complete.
"Ours went from 11 or 12 million to 20 million now. It’s upgrading all
the infrastructure now, boilers, air conditioners, painting, scraping. It’s
the things you don’t necessarily see but requires a lot of money to
fix," Ledbetter said.
Another aspect of the school looking to be rethought is the cafetorium and the
media center.
"We are looking at doing something to make it more auditorium friendly. We
have that pit down there. It needs to be leveled off so everyone can see the
stage more clearly," Ledbetter explained. "Then what needs to be done
with the media center? The way it is open at the top, it let’s a lot of noise
in."
Ledbetter said the ideas now are to relocate different aspects of the original
idea to allow for the separation of the middle and high schools more and to
provide better security at the school.
"The community supports the project. They just want to make sure we don’t
get short changed. To separate the middle school and high school is pretty
critical. The concerns in the community with the demographic study completed
about the amount of growth up here not as big as it is projected for
Charlestown. But how big do we want New Washington to be? I think some growth
and how we handle it now so we don’t have to go back and handle it. We have
to meet the community’s needs," Ledbetter added.
Looking at the growth of New Washington and the class sizes in the elementary
school, Ledbetter said in two years, New Washington could have two classes in
the building with at least 160 students in them.
"That is not much less than the entire middle school was when I first came
to New Washington," Ledbetter laughed.
Architects have talked with faculty members about the needs and took so many
other things into consideration to prioritize the renovation project.
The advantages to the students at New Washington would be many according to
Ledbetter.
"Well, we would have an upgrade in the technology classroom, even heating
and cooling in the building. We would upgrade the athletic fields to Sectional
level, which we don’t have now. I believe we do for indoor sports but not for
any outdoor," Ledbetter stated. "We would have adequate space for
special needs including conference space and confidential conference space. Once
we set the process into motion, we would also have a greenhouse for the FFA and
the ag program."
He added, "We would have modernized classrooms with visual lights and
comfortability plus the proper amount of space for storage space and revamping
the locker space. We’d also have additional classroom space and additional
technology."
He concluded, "In last night’s meeting (November 9 Community Input
Meeting), in a nutshell, the community don’t want New Washington to be short
changed. It was a good meeting. We had more than 40 community people, and that’s
people from the community not faculty and staff. They had the opportunity to
express themselves and had a lot of good comments. I was really proud of the
community."
According to the pamphlet from Greater Clark County Schools, "New
Washington Middle Senior High School was built in 1986. Even though it is the
newest high school facility, much work is needed to bring it up to the same
offerings and standards as the other high school building. A renovation project
is being recommended to separate the middle school and high school students,
provide adequate outside athletic facilities, improve school security issues
and update the mechanical and electrical systems."
The Greater Clark County Schools have a very informative website detailing the
systems Facility Renovation and Construction Project. Dr. Rohr encourages all
citizens to visit the website for additional information and to form ideas and
opinions about the new construction of Charlestown High School and the
renovation project at New Washington High School. There is also a link to
respond to the board and Dr. Rohr, the forum link.
The website is located at www.gcs.k12.in.us/construction/