Tough spot for ROCSD on facilities

Superintendent Tom Messinger told Red Oak School Board that the district is in a tough spot. It is working to meet the needs of the district from a facilities standpoint, while matching that with deadlines for cutting spending.
“It’s going to be a balance of what our smartest business move is, coupled with what’s the smartest facilities move from a political standpoint and based on what the district needs. I will say the timeline doesn’t have much wiggle room,” Messinger said.
He made his comments at a school board workshop last week.
Board President Paul Griffen said they needed to get started right away, but there were still several hurdles to pass.
“We’ve got to get a PPEL put together. We’ve got a bond issue we need to get out there, and get the voters engaged, and unless we can find a way to keep our district out of the red until 2020 or 2021, we’ve got a very tight deadline. We’ve got to either find ways to cut costs or get down to two campuses as quickly as possible,” said Griffen.
Griffen suggested putting out the PPEL vote first, to gauge public response, then push forward with a bond issue vote for the facility plan.
“”We can get some approval to move ahead as best we can. And we can have some pre-work done on plans and other needs, and get more details for when we put the bond issue out there to move that forward,” commented Griffen.
Schematic work on the high school could be completed as early as December for informational purposes before the June bond issue vote, according to Alley Poyner Macchietto architect Daric O’Neal.
Board Member Bret Blackman questioned whether, were the bond issue to fail, if they could still accomplish closing the middle school based on the district’s existing buildings.
Principal Nate Perrin said the 7th and 8th grade could  potentially be fit at the high school, though it would be a tight fit. The only way to house 6th grade at the high school would be to add additional space.
“The 7th and 8th grade at the high school is a realistic goal. Adding all three grades is an entirely different animal. It would make way more sense not to have the 6 th grade class at the high school,” Perrin said.
One clear message to the board was that they had to have an approved voted PPEL in order to keep the district’s finances in the black.
Board member Kathy Walker said she had concerns that the $34 million dollar bond issue would be deemed too expensive by the public. Bill Billings, who was one of the members of the financial focus group, said there were ways to make the number more attractive to the public.
“The fact is, you’re in the same spot you were with Tigervision. You just added Inman to the project. It’s cost you a couple of million dollars. When you go out to the public , you have to take out the Save dollars, and the PPEL spending. Not $34 million, but this amount that isn’t paid off by what’s coming in. You have to break that down,” Billings said.
Billings added the public was very understanding of the situation, and understood the savings.
“They understand there’s a savings of $750,000 a year to go to a two-campus system, and they understand you can’t offer a viable school system the way it is now. I’ve heard nothing negative about the $34 million,” Billings advised.
Part of the discussion at the next meeting will be to determine the schematic designs, and design elements on Inman Primary, and half the schematic design on the high school.
Perrin said advising the public of what the potential outcome to the district if the bond issue failed to pass should be a major point addressed.
“The couple-year doomsday situation is arriving. They need to know that if the bond issue doesn’t pass, this is what we’ll have to do. There’s no tiptoeing around the impact this will have on the district financially,” Perrin said.
The board elected to meet for one more special meeting to discuss the facility plans at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7.