BY DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

 

 

City schools’ four-year facilities plan obtained board approval last week, with one down-the-road priority —  to be scheduled for after 2028 — being a new W.R. McNeill Elementary and new Potter Gray Elementary, each accompanied by a storm shelter.

Kentucky mandates every four years that school districts develop a four-year roadmap establishing needs and priorities across district buildings, known as a District Facilities Plan. District facility projects must be on a DFP for them to be eligible for state funding.

Each school district must develop its DFP through a local planning committee, which typically comprises administrators, teachers, parents and other stakeholders. Bowling Green Independent School District’s LPC has been working on the DFP since September, said district Director of Technology William King, who has served as the LPC chairperson; the LPC has held numerous public hearings since then, he added. The BGISD Board of Education approved the plan’s first reading last week.

A board of education uses its district’s roadmap as a guideline but ultimately decides which projects get implemented and when.

BGISD will hold a 30-minute public hearing on March 31 at 5:30 p.m. ahead of a 6 p.m. Board of Education special session where the board will hold its second, final vote on city schools’ DFP.

The new W.R. McNeill Elementary, expected to have a capacity of 500 students, is estimated to cost $19.6 million, while the new Potter Gray Elementary, with an expected capacity of 525 students, is estimated at $20.6 million, according to Kentucky Department of Education estimations, though the actual cost will likely be far different due to factors such as inflation and the public bidding environment.

At the time they’re scheduled, “the Board of Education will be tasked to approve more detailed construction plans, including sites and building capacity,” BGISD Director of Communications Leslie McCoy said. “The projected school sizes on the District Facilities Plan are based on current enrollment, and can change at the time of construction, but to be determined based on enrollment and projected growth at the time of construction.”

The LPC decided to prioritize the two due to a state formula stipulating that buildings be replaced if renovation costs reach 80% of replacement costs, King said. Both of the schools are past their life expectancy, he said.

But the DFP’s top-priority changes would be scheduled first — major renovation and additions at Bowling Green Junior High along with security upgrades at BGJHS and three other schools, to be scheduled between 2026 and 2028.

Roof replacements are among the major BGJHS renovation and additions to be scheduled for between 2026 and 2028. Others involve primary HVAC pumps, packaged air conditioning units and air distribution systems. Also listed are mechanical controls and instrumentation that include monitoring controls of an existing 30,000-gallon lift station, which raises the elevation of wastewater.

The DFP also lists renovating the entry lobby “to provide a secure entry vestibule connecting the entry doors to the administrative office reception.” Another top-priority renovation is modifying the existing Family Resource Area to provide direct exterior after-hours access.

It also lists the construction of eight resource rooms, four computer classrooms, a career and technology room, a kitchen expansion and a cafeteria expansion.

BGISD had the junior high school built some 25 years ago as the district began renovating and building new schools, King said. Since then, BGISD has built and renovated schools districtwide — most recently, the high school — and the proposed BGJHS upgrades and expansions aim to help the school better handle capacity and growing enrollment, King said.

“I think this plan was easy for the committee to tackle because I think the district (did) an amazing job 25 years ago to really plan out long-term visioning of how things are going to happen as far as buildings go,” BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields said.

Among the DFP’s first-scheduled priorities, these BGJHS changes are expected to be the most expensive. KDE estimates that they’d total nearly $13.9 million.

BGJHS’s safety and security upgrades include additional fencing for site security along with renovations for “intercommunications and paging, fire alarm system, security systems, exit & emergency light systems,” according to the DFP. KDE’s ballpark estimate for these is $2.4 million.

The roadmap also lists additional fencing at the T.C. Cherry, Parker-Bennett-Curry and Dishman McGinnis elementary schools, with KDE’s total ballpark estimate being $885,300.

There are lower priorities as well that either will be scheduled after 2028 or don’t need to be scheduled.

Also:

BGISD got approval for an HVAC-refrigerant (HVAC-R) program that’ll be offered at Bowling Green High School in partnership with Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College.

The four-course, four-quarter sequence will enable students to earn up to 20 hours of dual credit – enough for an HVAC-R certificate and half of the hours for an HVAC degree from SKyCTC, Fields said.

The district plans to launch the program in August, and SKyCTC hopes it’ll serve 25 students annually, Fields said.