Schools
School Closings: A Closer Look By the Numbers
Slideshow presented Wednesday night gives more information about each school.
Wednesday night at a special WI Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Rick Simon presented a slideshow that takes a closer look into each school, and certain criteria the district is looking at that will ultimately effect their decision of which two elementary schools they'll close.
Simon went on to describe 26 specific factors the school is taking into consideration, such as number of classrooms available in each school, size of cafeteria and stage, size of library and size of gym. (The entire list of criteria can be found here).
He also outlined a "Closing a School Best Practices Guide" the California Department of Education uses for such situations, which they're also using for guidance.
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Below are slides Simon presented to the audience which describe specific numbers the district is focusing on.
Current Room Utilization
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Kirdahy Bayview Bellew Westbrook Manetuck Oquenock Rooms Used 2011-12 16* 19** 20*** 22 23 17 Available Rooms 6 5 6 3 3 5 Current Enrollment 307 328 356 387 441 338
- * Includes two special education self contained sections.
- ** Includes five special education self contained sections.
- *** Includes two BOCES special education sections.
Buildings and Grounds Criteria
Info Bayview Kirdahy Westbrook Oquenock Bellew Manetuck Year Constructed 1954 1956 1962 1964 1954 1958 Building Age 58 56 50 48 58 54 Overall Condition Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Utility Cost-Electric $60,000 $55,000 $65,000 $55,000 $60,000 $73,000 Utility Cost- Gas/Oil Heat $55,000 $90,000 $45,000 $40,000 $53,000 $53,000 Current sq ft (approx.) 64,000 64,000 69,750 63,631 74,483 68,916 Toal Acreage 11 11 9.5 8 11 13.5 Playgrounds- Type & Condition K- (renovated), 1-5 (new) K (fair), 1-5 (good) K-5 (new) K-5 (new) K (good), 1-5 (fair) K-5 (good) Location Issues Near Hosptial Near Hostpial Near Sunrise Near Sunrise HS & Higbie Lane Near Udall Traffic Flow Issues Good Good Fair Fair Fair Good Size of Cafeteria 2200 2200 2400 2250 2425 3200 Size of Gym 4000 4000 3800 3900 3500 3850Simon projected that with next year's K-5 enrollment (2,100 students), the district would need between 99-107 total classrooms. He said if they take the four largest schools (Option 1), there would be 104 classrooms available (Bayview, Bellew, Westbrook, Manetuck). He also outlined four other options:
- Option 2: Bayview, Bellew, Oquenock, Manetuck= 101 classrooms.
- Option 3: Bayview, Kirdahy, Manetuck, Westbrook= 99 classrooms.
- Option 4: Bayview, Kirdahy, Manetuck, Oquenock= 96 classrooms.
- Option 5: Bellew, Oquenock, Manetuck, Westbrook= 103 classrooms.
The District's final decision will be made at a Board of Education meeting on Thursday, January 12 at 8 p.m.
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