Workshop weighs elementary-school closures and bond priorities ahead of a possible May 2027 vote

At a community workshop focused on elementary schools, district staff presented enrollment projections and per-student cost calculations and asked resident advisory groups to prioritize high-, medium- and low-priority facility needs as part of long-range bond planning.

"I'm Jane Nausigern, the business director for the district," Jane Nausigern said as she walked the group through enrollment, ADMR and cost-per-student figures used to estimate savings from consolidation. Her presentation identified four elementary schools with enrollments below 200 and high per-student costs; she said closing certain buildings and reassigning students could reduce annual general-fund costs and remove one-time capital repairs for idle buildings.

The groups conducted breakout exercises using boundary maps and worksheets. Several tables recommended closing Central and moving students into Tequila (with a modeled six-classroom addition at the receiving school), and discussed potentially closing Waverly and Tangent and redistributing students to nearby schools. One reporter summarized the common approach: split students among adjacent schools where capacity exists rather than funneling everyone to a single site.

Moderator and staff emphasized limits for this advisory group's work: recommendations should address only elementary grade-band assignments and not attempt to resolve high-school boundary balancing. Staff also warned the committee to "walk with care" on closures because polling showed community support for bond measures can erode if voters feel decisions were rushed.

A Girding Builders representative (introduced at the meeting as Ryan McAllister) reviewed market conditions and advised planners to assume about a 4.5% annual cost-escalation rate when projecting construction costs from 2025 dollars. He told the group that privately funded projects can be roughly 15–20% less expensive than public projects, largely because of different wage/contract contexts.

Staff described immediate safety and maintenance needs — including turf and track replacements and other summer projects — and estimated remaining on-hand funds of about $3.0 million in bond funds and $2.6 million in capital-improvement funds (roughly $6.0 million total) that could address some near-term items. Participants were asked to place colored stickers in an exit poll indicating when they would support a decision on specific closure scenarios (green for a 2027 decision, yellow for 2028–2030, red for a future bond timeline).

The advisory group will compile the tabletop proposals and staff will return with follow-up answers to questions (for example, where transferred students live and how open-enrollment patterns might shift). Staff said any formal recommendation to the board could come in late spring or be folded into the long-range facility plan for board consideration in October; a bond vote target mentioned at the meeting was May 2027.

The meeting closed after the exit poll instructions and staff reminded participants of future workshops on middle and high schools.