Howard-Suamico School Board looks at past, present and future of facilities

HOWARD-SUAMICO –  During approval of EL-8 Facilities and Asset Protection Report, the Howard-Suamico Board of Education got a facilities planning update at its Dec. 9 meeting.

“Nothing in the interpretation of EL-8 changed… I reviewed it certainly and supported every interpretation, so nothing changed there. Part of what we want to provide is a little bit more context and synergy around what's the essence of ELA from an operational standpoint,” said Howard-Suamico Superintendent Dr. Mark Smith.

Smith said the report was a look at some of the “past, present and future considerations.”

He emphasized that the spirit by which he was presenting was “considerations,” by posing questions and scenarios with “no forgone conclusion or definite direction from administration.”

“I would like to be crystal clear with the board and the public that this really is a board and a community engagement opportunity, as much as you'll hear an administrative recommendation throughout all this,” he explained.

“I think our theme for the year is really apropos — Stronger Together. And if we're locked in together on these types of conversations with the community, we’ll be more successful; certainly, when it comes to the outcome of whatever decisions that we make.”

The past

 “I'll go back here to our 2021 Referendum Task Force. I think it was important for us to talk about some of these items, because this is still stuff that came out of the community and stuff, quite frankly, we didn't do because it didn't fit within the budget that we had outlined,” said Howard-Suamico Assistant Superintendent of Operations Dr. Mike Juech. “But just reminding folks, we've talked about these as well, one of the areas that was outlined was Lineville and some of the space needs that were there, some of the modernization that was outlined as well.

“Another part we looked at it but we did not decide to do ultimately in our recommendation and board approval was anything with Meadowbrook Elementary.

“But, I wanted to make sure we highlighted this, because these were discussions that took place previously and just if nothing else mentioning those to the group, because it's something that a lot of folks weighed in on.

“Ultimately, these projects were not elevated to the top of what we would ask for with that $98 million referendum.”

The present

“As we wrapped up our facilities referendum this last year, we are continuing on with the capital maintenance projects. One of the tools that we're using to decide what projects to work on is our 10-year facilities plan. We created it back in 2018. There were a number of reasons we created it at that time; one being that Fund 46 was established at that time and it was a requirement of that. Also the possibility of a facilities referendum coming up in the future, and then just to be strategic of things that we know need to take place and have a roadmap to follow for that,” recalled Howard-Suamico  Director of Facilities Nathan Carlson.

“So, the 10-year plan was created with help from the facilities assessment that eua did prior to that. Somerville did an independent HVAC study. We used information from our roofing consultants, our environmental consultants and then the input from facility staff and building staff and created this 10-year plan. 

Carlson said that when the plan was created it included 235 items

“Through our yearly referendum budget and the facilities referendum, we've completed 171 of them so far, anticipating and completing some more through this year and into next year,” he said. “And then within the facilities department, we also have a yearly document of yearly projects that we do. It contains items off the 10-year plan, capital projects, but also the unexpected maintenance items that come up. We try to keep this going about five years out, but it's a rolling document; so as needs arise, unexpected emergencies — water heater goes out at Bay Harbor a couple weeks ago — $20,000 that ends up going into our yearly referendum account here. We roll something over into the next year.”

The future

“This is stuff that has been talked about throughout, so I would not consider any of these recommendations. There's obviously things like maintenance items that we need to look at,” Smith said.

“Here are some things that we've heard, things we've looked at, things we need to continue to explore. And looking at this too, if we look back at where CTE and some of the research that we have too, is looking at these CTE pathways.

“We went on the tour of NWTC to see all the things that are available for our students, and looking at what occupations we're going to have. This is information that's collected, reports that have been presented and just supporting details of things we need to look at that have been mentioned; and the why this has been a topic that's come up a couple of times, and we have some folks that are interested in the community too.

“What are some of those concepts? What are those ideas? What do donors look like in this situation, and how do we attract those folks?”

Smith discussed partnerships, information gathering and referendum processes that would aid in the development of future needs and work that is being done toward possible implementation.

“We'll always have a decision to make, but if we don't collect the information then we're postured to really not make a good, informed decision. “