By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays USD 489 school board members received their first look at the design for the new high school at the board's meeting Monday night.
The high school will be divided into wings that will be connected by a commons area that will double as a cafeteria.
Large glass windows are planned for the space, which will look out on the new football stadium. DLR representatives said the commons area is being designed so it can be shut off from the learning areas of the school. This could better facilitate community use during off hours.
Math and science will be grouped on the left side of the building and arts and humanities will be on the right side of the building.
DLR architects said they planned the math and science wing adjacent to the STEM career and technical education classrooms to allow for more interdisciplinary collaboration.
Each wing will have teacher planning and collaboration areas. The current high school is only using about 75 percent of its classroom capacity because of planning time. The new collaborative spaces will allow the new HHS to use up to 85 percent of its classroom capacity.
The new building will have a performing arts center with a capacity of 800 people. The new walk-down gym will have a capacity of 2,000. The auxiliary gym will double as a storm shelter.
The high school will have two floors but have elevators in both wings of the school.
The district's architectural firm, DLR, is trying to incorporate as much natural light in the building through windows. However, the final details have yet to be finished on the design.
Board members asked questions about the security of the building. DLR representatives said they would consult with local law enforcement before finalizing the plans.
The building will have a secure front entrance that leads visitors through the school office. The two wings of the school could also be locked down from the commons in the case of an intruder.
No lockers are planned for the new building. This will allow more space for circulation in hallways and informal seating and collaborative spaces for students.
DLR will be presenting the plans in more depth with faculty during the first week of December. Construction is planned to begin in summer 2023 with completion estimated in May 2025.
Roosevelt to become 5-section school
As architects began planning the renovations for the elementary schools, it became clear that it would be more feasible to expand Roosevelt Elementary School as a five-section school and keep O'Loughlin Elementary School as a three-section school.
Heavy traffic, lack of additional space at the O'Loughlin site and nearby wetlands made Roosevelt a more suitable site for expansion, the DLR representative said.
This means Roosevelt will have space for five sections of each grade or up to 690 students once the renovation is complete. Roosevelt currently has a capacity of 430 students.
However, Superintendent Ron Wilson said the fifth section will be used for future growth and likely would not be needed immediately.
The current Hays Middle School will be renovated into a five-section elementary school as well. Lincoln and Wilson elementary schools are slated to be closed as elementary schools. Wilson likely will house the administrative offices upon the closure of the Rockwell Administration Center.
O'Loughlin will still be renovated under the bond. The DLR representative says the intent is the quality of renovations at O'Loughlin should not suffer due to the shift of additional classrooms to Roosevelt.
The Roosevelt renovation will include a separate gym and cafeteria, which will allow more freedom in scheduling considering the increase in the number of students who will need gym classes.
Just like the high school, the Roosevelt renovations will include collaborative spaces for teachers.
To ease traffic congestion around the school at pick up, a new pickup area will be created with half of the students being picked up on the east side of the school and the other half on the west side of the school.
Roosevelt's renovations will be the first bond project completed with an estimated completion date of December 2024.
Inflation
The DLR representatives said inflation has increased 9 percent more than was estimated in the cost of the bond projects. This could mean an additional $13.5 million or more in additional costs for the bond projects, potentially driving the total bond cost to $157.2 million.
However, DLR representatives said they thought there are areas within the project the shortfall can be made up. Those include additional funds from the bond sale, potential bond interest earnings, FEMA grants and proceeds from the sale of the Rockwell and Lincoln properties.
The district has already applied for the first round of FEMA grants.