A question of growth
By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 11:32 AM PDT
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| Nyssa Middle School students leave one of the 20-year-old modular units, which school officials say have outlived their intended use and are crowded as enrollment increases. They are now discussing whether to build a new middle school or a new high school building, since Nyssa High School is also at capacity. |
NYSSA - Nyssa School District officials say they are contending with rising enrollment that is putting pressure on the high school, and the numbers are expected only to climb, leaving education leaders in this Malheur County town still grappling with questions regarding which way to build.
Already, there are more students in the high school than there are lockers, officials reported during a public meeting Monday night at the Nyssa Middle School.
“We have large elementary classes coming up,” Nyssa District Citizens Facilities Committee Chairman Dale Hashagen said.
While the meeting was designed to share information with the public about the needs of the district and get the public’s input on what, if anything, they will support, the area harvest and other activities kept the audience small, and the school is still looking for input.
“We are trying to do everything we can to let the public know about what we are doing,” Nyssa School District Superintendent Don Grotting said.
Grotting conceded the district is growing.
“The high school is at capacity,” he said. “Every (high school) room is being used. Every middle school classroom is being used.”
Grotting also noted that two sections of the high school auditorium are used for classes.
Nyssa High School Principal Ken Ball said, because of new educational standards looming on the horizon, his building will need another science lab.
The middle school is spread through the former primary building, built in 1956, and several modular buildings, which are about 20 years old, and were to be only temporary.
“There are no science labs,” Grotting noted. “There are safety concerns.”
One of the issues some voters have expressed, he said, is that the district should try to get the bond on the elementary school paid off before going for another one.
However, that would mean paying the bond off early, Grotting said, and that is not an option.
What the district has been doing is setting aside money to put into an escrow account to use to pay off the bond on schedule, but the levy would no longer be part of the property taxes, he explained.
Grotting noted that property taxes will be an important issue.
“Nyssa is the highest-taxed community in the Malheur County,” he said. “I know there are people with fixed income.”
The consensus was the issues narrow down to: what can this community afford and what does the community need? Currently, the discussion is focused on whether to build a new middle school and expand the high school or build a new high school and move the middle school into the current high school. Ball said he would need at least four additional classrooms.
Nyssa Middle School Principal Jana Iverson said one of her concerns about moving the middle school to the present high school rested on whether there would be enough area for the sixth-graders to run around during their free time to get exercise.
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