Plans for high school expansion taking shape

Sparta - Sparta education officials unveiled architectural floor plans this week to the board of education for the proposed $73.3 million high school expansion with versatility as a central theme behind the addition of new classrooms, student laboratories, a gymnasium, cafeteria, and auditorium. “We call it a reconstruction, and that is truly what it is - making a modern high school on the existing site,” said Sparta Schools Superintendent Thomas Morton, who spearheaded the attempt to solve the district’s overcrowded classrooms and increasing student population Kathleen Monks, assistant superintendent for curriculum and development, said the expanded core facilities will be geographically positioned to enable future structural additions. The 24 new classrooms are designed to be flexible enough for both students and faculty, she said. Teachers will no longer be assigned to specific classrooms so that space can be flexible for a variety of courses, Monks said. The 137,910 square feet of additions will also include wireless Internet access to cut down on network installation costs. During reconstruction, some classes will be held in trailers on the existing school parking lots. A parking configuration for approximately 650 cars as well as trailers has yet to be determined. Monks said crews will begin reconstruction with the addition of classroom space and work their way toward the middle of the school. “The architect has designed the building so that it can be done in phases,” said Monks, who has been exploring options with the architect and high school faculty and staff for the past four weeks. “There’s been a lot of thought put into this to minimize the distraction of students learning and the inconvenience of people who work there.” Morton said the new cafeteria, which will feature a food court designed to move students more efficiently, will be able to hold 400 students and reduce scheduled lunch periods from five to four. Monks said the science and technology laboratories are designed to be converted into instruction space for earth science, physics and chemistry as well as pre-engineering and robotics. She said the computer laboratories will also be equipped to provide a high-end math learning component. “The educational spaces represent costs that are being presented to the voters,” said David Slavin, school board president. “I hope you will bring an open mind.” Monks said the auditorium will be able to be partitioned to host up to 100 students on either side with instruction for events such as teleconferencing, lectures, and distance learning. The 1,600-seat gymnasium addition will also be versatile enough to house classroom-like teaching or the physical education curriculum that the state requires approximately 1,400 students to take each day. “We looked at a lot of different options and ran the gamut from a band-aid solution to what we have now,” said school board member Jonathan Rush. “It will be our job to educate the community to invest in the merits of the referendum.” The school board approved the project in January after a long and exhaustive search. For almost three years, the school board struggled to find land to build a new school before settling on expansion and renovation of the existing facility, which has stood off Route 517 on Mountain Road for more than 50 years. Originally, the board of education had intended to build a new high school and convert the existing facility to house grades K-4. But a strained relationship with the township council, environmental regulations, construction costs far more extensive than predicted, and a weary public that has historically opposed construction referendums forced the school board’s hand. The Department of Education must now approve plans related to spending, curriculum and facilities before the school board can hold a public referendum in September 2006. Taxpayers will then be asked to approve the reconstruction project, which if all goes as planned, would be completed by September 2009. The plan, which was chosen from one of six designs presented by the Spiezle Architectural Group, of Trenton, is expected to accommodate 1,525 students with additional facilities including 24 new classrooms, three music and faculty team rooms, an auditorium, commons/cafeteria, kitchen, double gymnasium and locker rooms. Cost of the 137,910 square feet of additions - some of which to be located in Station Park -- is estimated at $34.5 million. More than 115,000 square feet of renovations will feature nine classrooms, three science, technology and computer laboratories, a television production studio, three dividable classrooms, art rooms, media center, and space for home economics and life skills. Cost of the renovations is expected to be $18.2 million. Other expenditures include $4,667,702 for architectural/structural/MEP, $3,750,000 in site development costs, $1,107,700 in temporary classroom space and $352,000 for new furniture.