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Stakeholders start research into high school design

File photo
File photo
By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Students, teachers, district staff members, parents and district administration members had 30 years of high school facility design studies and articles to consider on Tuesday evening. After some initial reading and sorting, it was time to break up into small groups –– groups based on what site visits committee participants wanted to make.

“Tuesday was a deep dive into programming and taking a look at some assumptions of future needs of physical spaces and programming for students,” Superintendent Dr. Dan Cox said. “I’ve offered them eight different options and people have signed up for the eight options.”

Committee members will be taking individual trips to schools from Minneapolis, to Menomonie, Wis., to Knoxville Ill., down to Joplin, Mo. to visit new construction or renovated high school facilities that have won design awards and accolades within education circles. Some district staff members will also be touring facilities separate from what Dr. Cox proposed.

“Some people will be visiting (a site) just for the food service, not the rest of the building,” Dr. Cox said. “Music instructional staff who know of new auditoriums that have opened, they will see some of them.”

Visits will be broken into a few separate trips, including a few day trips, three one-night stay trips and one flight and two-night stay trip out west to visit two high schools in California.

It’s all part of the Board of Education’s spoken goal: community involvement for a renovation or redesign of the Charles City High School. The committee now boasts between 18-24 members who have participated in the first two meetings, and the list of who should be involved is growing, Dr. Cox said. The district hopes to accomplish the kind of community research as it did while designing the new Charles City Middle School, but in a quicker timeframe.

“When I convened the group, I told them we’re looking at a shorter period of time. I didn’t want to drag it out,” Dr. Cox said. “We’re having them dig into what the education needs are and look at facilities, and report back to the Board and give a progress update set for April 24.”

The group has a large cross section of involved stakeholders, and meetings are open to the public, Dr. Cox said. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21 from 5-6 p.m. Meetings take place in the 5th grade learning studio, on the second floor of the Charles City Middle School.

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