A Tweaked Option for the Middle School, the Survey and Classroom Sizes

Key Takeaways:

• Middle school options: A new option would build the school on Armory Park around the Veterans Monument, leaving it untouched, for $67.3M. No debate on which option being considered is preferred yet.
• Community survey: Open through July 31 — take it if you haven’t!
• Class sizes: With some sections projected at nearly 27 kids, the board directed administration to post for one additional upper-grade elementary teacher.

This week’s board meeting was anything but just a summer placeholder. Over roughly three hours, the board got its first look at a brand-new middle school site option that keeps the Veterans Monument and Memorial Garden exactly where it is, heard a status update on the community survey and had a candid debate about elementary class sizes.

A potential new wrinkle: build around the memorial

The headline document of the night was a fourth middle school option: build the new school on Armory Park, but notch the building around the existing Veterans Monument so it never moves. Architect Nick Kent walked the board through the current options being considered.

The district provided four updated cost summaries for the middle school:

• Option 1 — Maintenance only: $21.04 million. Fixes the documented maintenance list but the layout stays exactly as-is and extends the life of the old building. Complete summer 2030.
• Option 2 — New building on Armory Park (last April’s ballot question): $67.7 million. Requires relocating the memorial and green space, tennis courts, and a parking lot. Complete fall 2029.
• Option 3 — Renovate and expand in place: $67.8 million. A three-year, four-phase “full gut” that keeps students on site the entire time. Complete spring 2031.
• Option 4 — New building, memorial untouched: $67.3 million. The building shifts south, the memorial stays put, and the school wraps around it. Complete fall 2029.

Click the underlined options above for more granular details from the school district (loaded to Dropbox)

The tradeoff on Option 4 is the lacrosse field. Pushing the building south shrinks the practice field below regulation dimensions for lacrosse and soccer, meaning competitions would move to the stadium complex creating more scheduling pressure there. It also requires a retaining wall near the softball field and additional Village-owned land, and Kent was candid that a three-story building wrapping a memorial raises a question: how close can you build “and maintain the dignity of that site”?

Kent was equally candid about what renovate-in-place actually means. It is not patching what’s broken — it’s stripping the building to its bones while roughly 600 students remain on site. Ten temporary classrooms in the gymnasiums, no functioning gym for up to three years, no library for a stretch, reduced outdoor play space, and a likely closure of Henry Clay Street for staging.

The board was explicit that no decision was being made Tuesday — these are “data points,” not finalists. 

The community survey is ongoing

The Donovan Group reported that more than 1,000 survey responses have come in thus far as of Tuesday evening, well past the firm’s minimum target, though the board is hoping for many more responses. The survey stays open through July 31st, with a full report to the board targeted for mid-August. Don’t forget to take the survey if you haven’t already! It can be accessed here.

Class sizes

This past school year, there was a vocal cohort of parents who were not pleased with class sizes at the elementary schools. The board discussed the potential for adding sections to alleviate the class size issue. Current projections put Cumberland’s 3rd grade and Richards’ 5th grade at an average of 26.75 students per section, with Cumberland 5th grade at 26. The Administration shared that adding a section costs roughly $142,000–$146,000 once you count the teacher, Encore minutes (art, music, PE, Spanish), Chromebooks, and furniture.

Board members invoked the district’s own staffing plan, which cites a historical class-size range of 21–26 — and several were blunt that 27 kids in an elementary room isn’t consistent with what this community expects. After polling the table (four in favor, two neutral), the board directed administration to post for one additional upper-grade elementary teacher, deliberately not pinned to a specific grade or building yet, so enrollment can shake out over the next few weeks. The budget already carried a placeholder for one section, so this doesn’t create a deficit. 

One more month. The board has to settle a November referendum question by the end of August.