Haysville board reviews schematic plans for Campus High CTE addition, raises traffic and security questions

Architects for Allied presented schematic plans Tuesday to Haysville USD 261’s board showing a Career and Technical Education (CTE) addition that would enclose Campus High School’s interior courtyard, create a new front entry and add space for culinary arts, broadcasting, health-care pathways and flexible classroom space.

Board members and district staff said the project is intended to consolidate several CTE functions currently housed in retrofit spaces, provide year‑round flexibility for programming, and improve building security and circulation. Allied’s presentation showed a covered front entry with glass, a reception area with space for a school resource officer, a common presentation space subdividable by movable walls, a culinary area with a serving/concession window, a broadcast suite adjacent to the business wing, health-care training rooms and a northwest corner storm shelter.

Why it matters: the addition is funded through the district’s capital plan tied to the recent bond, and district leaders said it would replace several older, adapted rooms — including a makeshift culinary lab and a small broadcast closet — with spaces configured to modern CTE standards. District leaders said that could improve courses such as culinary arts and give students room for credentialing or pathway expansion.

Architect Andrew (Allied) described the site strategy: “we're proposing to enclose the courtyard. And the advantages to this is is that it helps provide a secure courtyard now. It helps connect the entire school into interior circulation, so you have a lot of efficiency with that as well as creating a new front door for the the school itself.” He walked through drawings showing the former circle drive reconfigured to preserve a drop‑off lane and new egress paths for maintenance vehicles into the courtyard.

Design details shown to the board included pilasters and low seating walls to match the existing courtyard aesthetic, passive sun control for the front glass, rooftop equipment screening behind a lower sloped roof, and a proposed ceiling height of roughly 14–16 feet in the new commons to avoid acoustic problems with large gatherings. Allied’s renderings placed the culinary space under a sloped roof with a screen wall to hide rooftop exhaust and makeup air units.

District staff framed programmatic priorities. Superintendent Hirsch and campus leaders said the plan would allow the district to move culinary, broadcasting and health‑pathway instruction out of retrofit rooms into spaces that better meet certification and hygiene needs (for example, sinks and tile for phlebotomy). The board was told the CTE addition was staff‑driven after tours of peer districts; Allied said the schematic design phase remains in progress.

Timeline and next steps: district staff said Allied and their construction partner plan to refine designs, incorporate board feedback and present final documents to the district’s capital‑improvement committee. The district estimated schematic design completion toward February and said construction could begin in 2026 if schedules and bids align. “This could begin construction in '26, so this coming spring,” Superintendent Hirsch said when discussing schedule and the need for board feedback.

Board concerns and staff responses: several trustees raised traffic and drop‑off concerns tied to removing or reconfiguring the circle drive. Allied and district staff said they had not completed a traffic study and suggested further coordination with Sedgwick County and local traffic authorities; staff noted alternative routine drop‑off patterns already used by many families (parking lots on east/west sides and the northwest service drive). Trustees also asked about stormwater runoff and roof pitch; Allied said new roofing would use modified bitumen with a greater than typical slope, internal drains tied to existing underground systems, and localized crickets to route water to perimeter drains.

Security and equipment screening: trustees asked about glazing and exterior security measures. Allied said final security designs — camera systems, access control, window films or selective use of bullet‑resistant glazing — would be determined later in coordination with the capital‑improvement committee and the board because of cost considerations.

What’s next: Allied will return with revised drawings incorporating board feedback; district staff asked trustees to share additional comments with members of the capital‑improvement committee (Barb, Tasha and Jen) before final production documents are prepared for bidding.

Ending: The board agreed the schematic represented a significant upgrade to campus CTE capacity but asked staff to report back with refined traffic, drainage and cost details before advancing to final design and bid. No formal vote on the project was taken at Tuesday’s meeting.