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Board weighs hiring demographer, facilities study and forming community advisory group
Summary
Board members discussed a proposed demographer, a facilities master-plan vendor and creation of a facilities-advisory community committee. Staff outlined costs and recommended a phased engagement to inform long-range decisions.
District staff presented three levels of professional services to improve planning: an interactive boundary-mapping tool, an annual demographer service and a comprehensive facilities master plan with community outreach. The board discussed costs, timing and the role of a community advisory committee to review findings.
Neil and Corey described the vendor package: interactive GIS-based boundary mapping (staff cited roughly $10,000 per year plus initial training), a demography service (presenters recommended a three-year engagement; staff cited $25,000 per year for a multi-year contract to establish trend data), and a full facilities and educational programming master plan (presenters quoted a range from about $86,000 for a basic facilities-only study to roughly $200,000 for a comprehensive facilities-and-programming engagement including community outreach). Staff recommended the three-year demographer contract for trend stability rather than a single-year snapshot.
Board members asked how quickly the advisory group should convene. After discussion of schedules and member selection, the board agreed to begin outreach to recruit community members and to aim for an initial meeting in early June (staff and several board members discussed June 2 or nearby dates for a first evening session; staff will circulate the invitation list and confirm a final date). Board members said they wanted a volunteer pool representative of precincts and stakeholders (parents, community council members, small-business owners and educators) and requested that district staff provide the survey respondent list for targeted invitations and help with precinct matching.
Members also discussed what the advisory group should do. Staff suggested the committee's first role should be informational: review the district's updated cost estimates and demographic trends, give feedback on draft facility scenarios, and help the district communicate the options to the broader public. Board members said they did not intend to give the committee a formal vote on district policy but expected the advisory members to be a two-way conduit to their communities.
The board asked staff to return with a recommended vendor contract scope and price options for the demography/boundary tools and for a facilities master-plan firm, plus a finalized membership list and a confirmed date/time for the first advisory meeting.
