By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Renovations at Roosevelt Elementary School should begin this summer, according to a report given to the Hays USD 489 school board Monday.
The work is part of a $143.5 million bond issue. Roosevelt, which has three classes of each grade, is scheduled to be expanded to accommodate five classes of each grade.
The estimated cost for the project is $18.7 million, which is in budget. Mike Fahey, DLR architect, said the project is scheduled to be completed in December 2024.
The school will be able to accommodate 690 students once the renovations are complete.
Although the school likely will not need to open all five sections immediately, Superintendent Ron Wilson said the expansion will give the district room to grow.
The current building will be completely renovated. The addition will include a new library, offices, main entry, gym and fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.
The learning wing in the addition will include lockers for the fourth and fifth-graders. Fahey said this was added to the design to allow for more storage.
The art room will be moved to a new location with windows to allow in natural light.
The gym also will be a storm shelter and be able to accommodate all of the children in the school. The children at Roosevelt are currently being sheltered in the utility tunnels, which are not ADA-accessible because they have to be accessed by stairs.
All of the school will be ADA-accessible after the renovation with the exception of a storage room off the gym and the stage, which will be used for expanded seating in the cafeteria.
The school now has one room that is used as the gym, cafeteria and auditorium. The old gym will be used as a cafeteria. Steps will be added to the stage and further lunch seating will be added to that space.
The new gym will have a partition so two gym classes can be conducted at the same time. It will have a small set of bleachers and a drop-down screen that can be used for presentations.
The entrance to the gym will be able to be accessed after hours while the rest of the school remains locked.
The new entrance will lead visitors into the office for security purposes. All other entrances will be secured during the school day.
Upgrades were recently made to the Roosevelt HVAC system. Fahey said those will be maintained. A new system will be added to the addition. Some fire sprinklers will be added to the building during the renovations. The original 1966 building was not required to have them.
Parking will be reconfigured to allow for more stacking off of Donald Street.
A new rubber surface will be installed for the playground and the current playground equipment moved.
The new school will include an outdoor courtyard and learning center.
The architect dubbed the library the Learning Park. It will include a reading cave as well as large touch-screen monitors that can be used for instruction.
Board member Meagan Zampieri-Lillpopp said, as a former librarian, she had several questions about the learning park.
She expressed concerns about the lack of flexibility that fixed shelving offers as well as the height of the bookshelves, which would make books inaccessible to small children.
Fahey said the district could add further mobile shelving units. The design also includes bookshelves in the hallways for more space.
Zampieri-Lillpopp also asked if classes could be offered in the library. Fahey said they could be. Students could be broken into small groups or the space as a whole can accommodate up to 40 students.
She also expressed disappointment that the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) lab was not connected by an entrance to the library.
Fahey said he had met with teachers and staff members at the school during the design process.
Board member Allen Park asked if he had met with parents.
Fahey said no.
Although as much work as possible will be done during summers, the district plans to rent 10 modular classrooms to use during construction. This will give the school some flexibility in the construction process, Wilson said.
Roosevelt threat
A parent addressed the school board on Monday night and said he was concerned about a threat by a student at Roosevelt school.
Although he heard a call for a police officer to respond to school over the police scanner, parents were not informed of the threat.
He said he discussed his concern with the principal and Superintendent Ron Wilson. He said he was not happy with how Wilson responded to the incident or his concerns.
The parent urged the school board to further review how threats are handled and when and if parents are notified.
Wilson said the incident was not deemed a credible threat and that was why parents were not notified.