Seaman to rely on mobile classrooms
September 11, 2007
Special to The
Capital-Journal
Published Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Seaman Unified School District 345 seventh- and eighth-graders who attend Northern Hills and Logan junior high schools will likely be learning out of mobile units during the 2008-09 school year.
The temporary classrooms will be necessary due to construction that will begin earlier than expected on the addition of eight classrooms at Northern Hills and the remodeling of Logan into a new elementary school with an emphasis on early childhood education for the district's at-risk pre-kindergarten students.
On a 7-0 vote, USD 345 board members adopted a resolution during
their meeting Monday night that formally approves combining the
district's seventh- and eighth-graders beginning with the 2008-09
school year, one year earlier than expected, into one Seaman Middle
School.
Board members said they wanted to accelerate the construction schedule after meeting recently with the Topeka-based architectural firm of Horst, Terrill & Karst (HTK). After the meeting, district officials and board members agreed that $200,000 could be saved if the construction schedule is begun earlier as part of the district's plan to address increasing enrollment.
Carolyn Orozco, USD 345 curriculum director, was asked whether moving up the schedule is feasible within the principles of sound educational practices.
"This was going to be a difficult and painful year, anyway," she said. "This just cuts out one year of pain."
Board member Bill Rollins said his questions have been answered as to whether the district would be better served if the process of combining the seventh- and eighth-graders is speeded up.
Board member Ann Minihan, who has expressed her concerns about combining the district's seventh- and eighth-graders and voted against hiring HTK and the construction project, said she is supporting the majority of the board's wishes to move forward.
"Since I got outvoted, I might as well get with the plan," she said, "but I do think the positives outweigh the negatives."
Board members on Monday formally approved, on a 7-0 vote, hiring HTK for the Northern Hills and Logan construction projects. The district also contracted with HTK for design of the current ninth-grade construction project, known as the Freshman Center, at Seaman High School.
The approved contract with HTK estimates architectural services from the design phase through construction will be $139,000 for the Northern Hills project and $196,400 for the Logan renovation.
Cost for the Northern Hills project is expected be $1.9 million, while the cost for the Logan remodeling is expected to be $2.3 million.
The costs of both construction projects will come out of the district's capital outlay budget over the next 10 years.
Angela Deines is a freelance writer in Topeka. She can be reached at 845-6509 or amdeines@aol.com.
