Building for the future
Sunday, January 7, 2007 7:23 AM PST
Julie Engel
Argus Observer
Ontario
Ideas regarding school building plans flowed at a special work session of the Ontario School Board of Directors Wednesday night.
The conclusion of the meeting was to contact planners facilitated by the Oregon Department of Transportation to see if they would be available soon to visit Ontario.
Ontario School Boardmember Cliff Bentz said he attended a meeting put on by the planners and they would be a good resource for fresh ideas.
The only commitment by the board would be time, Bentz said, because the state pays for the planners. The board then compiled a list of all of the entities it would like to invite to be a part of the meeting as well to determine what collaborative efforts could be completed.
“It's a thinking opportunity - to have professional planners that act as sounding boards for community ideas,” Bentz said.
The board also addressed concerns gathered from a community survey. Many who responded in the survey said they thought the middle school needed a remodel first, and Ontario School District Operations Supervisor Duke Clinton said he agreed that the middle school was in need of an upgrade.
The other concern, Clinton said, is the high school's roof is at the end of its life cycle and will need to be replaced soon. For now, Clinton said the district patches the roof when necessary.
“We can limp along, but it will cost more and more,” Clinton said.
If the board can meet with ODOT planners, the next step will be to determine what building or buildings to focus on. Ontario School District Superintendent Dennis Carter said the district is waiting on a board decision to either move ahead with phases of the high school roofing project or wait for a remodel of the school buildings. It would not make sense to replace the roof of the building just to tear parts of it down in the next couple years, Carter said.
Clinton said the school district is ahead of the curve with its technology, but implementing more technology at the middle school has been limited because of its old buildings.
From wiring systems to too few outlets, Clinton said the buildings cannot support the technological advances of today.
“You can only repair old technology so much,” Clinton said.
Another concern some in the survey raised was the school had failed to maintain its buildings, but Carter said the district has held up to its maintenance schedule, even through budget constraints.
The problem is the buildings are old and everything has a life cycle, Clinton said. Many of the systems or structures are beginning to near the end of their life cycles, he said, which means they will need to be updated in the future.
“If we're not putting money into maintaining antiquated buildings, how much money will we save?” Ontario School Boardmember Pamela Russell said.
The board will discuss building plans again at its work session before its regular board meeting Jan. 18.
