Minutes

February 12, 2004 Master Plan Committee Meeting

Taken by Charles Hill

Started at about 7 PM

Next meetings:

• February 25, subcommittees will report; this is the only topic for discussion that night; tentatively at Ketcham HS, 7 PM
• March 10, full committee meeting

Dick Powell handed out a booklet, "Wappingers Central School District Sample Development Demographics"

Nick Waer handed out a facilities data sheet.

Paul Abramson spoke generally about demographics:

• The author of the FACTS demographic study believes that students coming to the district because of parents buying homes and moving in are already accounted for in the enrollment projects - therefore we may not see a huge increase in students, but will see increases in schools along the I84/Taconic corridor
• Build out on housing projects tends to be over a ten year period, meaning that students will not all come in a bunch

Paul Abramson reviewed goals and observations that guided development of the scenarios he will be describing:

• Most popular grade alignment is K-5, 6-8, 9-12 (preferred by principals)
• At the elementary school (ES) level, no more than 3 classes per grade level
• Middle schools (MS) should max out at 750 students
• High schools (HS) should be organized around small internal communities
• Average class size of 23 for K-2, 25 for K-5, 27 at MS, 30 at HS - though preference is for smaller numbers than these
• Also talked about all day kindergarten (K), bus trip lengths, keeping special needs classes in same building for several years
• All ES to have library, computer lab, art room, etc.
• Master plan should be able to adjust to enrollment fluctuations
• Plan for enrollments of 5300 ES, 2900+ 6-8 (organized by teams), 4000+ K-12

Scenarios described by Paul Abramson

Scenario 1

• Create 4 MS, 750 each
• VW takes in central administration
• WJ new cafeteria and library
• Build two new MS, located in the middle part of the district
• Myers as a 645-student K-5 school, possibly divided into two parts: K-2, 3-5
• New ES east of the Taconic
• Reduce Gayhead to 516; possibly divide into K-2, 3-5
• Addition to Fishkill of 3-4 classrooms
• Leave Kinry as 3-5; interior remodeling
• Vassar, K-2, add two K classrooms (assumes all day K)
• Various access and other alterations to Evans, Plains, Oak, Sheafe, Brinckerhoff
• May still require building an additional ES in order to further reduce ES class size and to do full-day K

Scenario 2

• Build one MS
• VW at 1000; wing for 5-6, wing for 7-8; take in central administration, adding a wing
• WJ add a 5-6 wing, move cafe to 1st floor, add library; wing for 7-8
• Myers becomes 5-8 MS; add science/tech wing for 7-8, music facilities, auditorium, gym
• Build 1000 student MS
• K-4 fits in existing ES, but improvement plans are not met (smaller classes, all day K, etc)

Scenario 3

• Mix and match: K-4, 5-8
• VW gets central administration
• MS max out at 1000 per

Scenario 4

• Grades 7-8 middle schools
• WJ: move cafeteria and library
• VW gets central administration
• Both WJ and VW probably need additions
• Build a 600-student MS
• Build 2 ES; additions as in scenario 1
• New classrooms and science rooms at all ES (would need 41 classrooms plus 11 science rooms)

Comments, questions, observations from audience

• Did not consider 7-9 or 6-9
• Some sentiment for kindergarten centers
• Do these plans (particularly scenario 1) leave enough room for future growth?
• Questions about where to put another school, if it (they) were built. For example, east of Taconic, north of I84; what about getting the Edgehill students into a school closer to their homes?

Reminder to all of next meeting dates (at top on minutes)

The presentation and these minutes will be placed on the Wappingers web site

Ended at about 8:30 PM