FIVE SCHOOLS AND SALE OF UNUSED PROPERTIES
PASS MUSTER WITH COMMUNITY FACILITIES COMMITTEE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2011

For more information contact:
Kathy Hanson     
Ames Community Schools           
515.268.6651
kathy.hanson@ames.k12.ia.us

AMES—The Community Facilities Committee agrees on most points of the Ames Community School Board’s long-range facilities proposal that are likely to appear on the ballot for an April 3, 2012 referendum.

Committee chair Duane Reeves asked the committee members at a meeting Monday to weigh in on the Board’s Long-Range Master Facilities Plan proposal after reminding them that making decisions is not the committee’s role.

“We are here to take this proposal and engage the public,” he said. “We only make recommendations to the Board.”

The “consensus” poll showed support of the Board’s proposal for five elementary schools and the sale of unused properties to support the Board’s plan.

The committee concluded it needs more discussion to reach agreement, however, on a recommendation for the best use of the District’s 24th Street property and whether to site a new Fellows school building at its current location or move it north to George W. Carver Avenue.

The order of work on the five elementary schools will not be part of the committee’s recommendation, its members decided.

“We’re not going to get into who goes first,” Reeves said. “That’s for the Board to decide.”

Engaging the public on the complete long-range plan without confusing the points to be decided by the referendum in April is a challenge, said community member Chuck Winkleblack.

“For me the concern of that is trying to get people to understand how that much money will be paid over (time),” Winkleblack said.

The District estimates $55 million in general obligation bonds would be needed for the elementary school portion of the plan, for example. Beyond that, the long-range plan is designed to tap revenue cycles generated by local option sales tax, sale of properties and the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy.

Superintendent Tim Taylor said the committee should strive to help the public understand the long-range plan while making it clear the referendum in April will focus on the five elementary schools.

Reeves assigned each committee member the task of asking 10 Ames residents two questions: “Have your heard about the elementary school bond referendum?” and “Will you vote yes?
The committee’s next meeting is Monday, Jan. 2 at 6:15 p.m. in Conference Room B at the Education Services Center, 415 Stanton Ave.

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