The Springfield Public School District has launched its long-range facility planning process. Joe Hadsall, education reporter for the Springfield Daily Citizen, talked with KSMU's Michele Skalicky about it.
Skalicky: Well, Joe, SPS is finishing up a long list of facility projects using bonds that were approved by voters. What are some of those projects and what's left to finish?
Hadsall: Absolutely. There's three schools, basically that are left to finish. And the reason that there are three schools is that two schools got added late in the process. The big three middle schools, Reed, Pipkin and Pershing, Reedd and Pipkin are already completed, and they have students in them. Right now, Pershing construction has begun. Students are attending in the old school while the new one is being built, and then they will move into the new school. The old school will make way for an athletic center, football field track and that kind of thing. What's new are Bingham and Bissett Elementaries. Bingham is being rebuilt from the ground up. Walls for the storm shelter are already up. You can drive by and see them on Cherry Street, and construction has already begun on...Bissett Elementary where that school is being renovated for more space.
Skalicky: Yeah, I drive by Bingham often on my way home, and I've been watching what's going on there. It's gone up pretty quickly. So, the plan will look at the 10 plus years beyond 2028. What has the SBS district done so far toward developing that plan?
Hadsall: Right now, what they've done is a lot of planning, a lot of studying and looking at current conditions. And that's why things are a little bit different with the process this time around. Usually, they have focused on what's immediately in front of them, but this time the district combined a building study with a demographic study. And what the study is showing is that the district is looking at about 3,000 fewer students attending in as little as 10 years. That means they'll receive less funding from the state. That means they'll have more buildings sitting empty, and those buildings cost money to run. With that, in anticipation, they are wanting to develop a plan now for how they move forward and make decisions for the buildings that are in need of help.
Skalicky: And I know in the press release that the district sent out, they mentioned a number of, you know, just how much in unmet needs there are right now for facilities. Can you tell me what that number is?
Hadsall: Yeah, absolutely. Right now, they have, if everything were to be taken care of, that needs to be done this year, it'd be $422 million. That's this year alone. That price stays there but goes up every year by about $44 million. So, by the time 2036 rolls around, they're looking at $866 million. And the problem is that their bonding capacity isn't going to be able to keep up with that. And that's to keep buildings all over the district in good condition. Right now, they estimate that 39% of their facilities across 65 school campuses are in urgent need. They released a list of the top 10 buildings in need, and at the top are Bowerman Elementary and Rountree Elementary. Pleasantview K-8 is number three. Glendale is on the list at 65, but number four on the list is Wanda Gray down in southwest Springfield.
Skalicky: That surprises me. It seems to me that's a newer school. I understand Bowerman and Rountree. Those are old schools.
Hadsall: Correct. And consultants noted that buildings as old as those. You get diminishing returns because as you complete renovation projects, you discover that there's problems with a building that was designed in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and these are foundational things like plumbing, electrical systems, HVAC that aren't built to keep up with what a modern school has.
Skalicky: SPS Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan said in a statement that some difficult decisions might have to be made. So, what are you hearing from district officials about what the plan might include and what the process might look like because of that?
Hadsall: Well, what the district wants to do is focus on a concept of anchor schools. It wants people's help to design about what the perfect SPS school would look like. That would align with being able to reduce the number of buildings that it operates. Consultants talk about the need for newer schools, fewer schools and schools that are financially stable because, of course, one of the biggest recurring expenses that the district faces are the teachers inside, the educators, the paraprofessionals, the bus drivers. So, we've already seen what they want to do because they've already been doing it. In this case, over the last few years, we've closed two elementary schools already. What the district wants to do is get people's feedback about how this process should be done in the future, which buildings are really important to which communities and how should that plan look in the future?
Skalicky: So, how important will public input be in formulating the plan based on what you're hearing?
Hadsall: Well, pretty important. School districts know that neighborhood schools are pretty important to our existing neighborhoods. They are a key part of many communities across the city. So, they want to hear from those people as much as possible. They want people to know about the conditions that they're facing, you know, some of the conditions that are leading to incoming financial crunch. Not only do we have an enrollment challenge, but there's a state funding challenge where the state's foundation formulas and the process of getting reworked, we don't know what that's going to look like. And lawmakers often wonder if we can pull back property taxes even further, similar to the senior tax credit that is active. That is a bigger source of funding for the district than state funds. So, they want to get people on board and at least giving their feedback, and they want to share more details about those problems.
Skalicky: And so, they've set some public meetings for this month, and I'm sure there will be more down the road. But tell me about the meetings that are coming up this month.
Hadsall: Certainly. On October 19th and October 20th at Glendale and Central High School respectively. They will be hosting sessions where people can come in, they can see the giant study that has been done with, not only a team of consultants, but 60 volunteers across the city already. They can take people's opinions, their feedback, they can answer questions as best as they can, and those sessions are going to be crucial for putting together a plan that will be presented to the board by probably about December. And then sometime near the beginning of next year, the board will make a final decision on that plan. Once that plan is decided on, then the district can start assembling another community task force on facilities to specifically look at construction projects that a future bond issue might address.
Skalicky: Well, Joe, anything else you'd like to tell us?
Hadsall: I think that the most interesting thing about this aspect is that, as we mentioned before, the concept of neighborhood schools is going to be challenged. There is a lot of perceived value placed on it. Whenever the district came out with a demographic study in 2023, real estate minded people were perplexed, and they could not believe that Kickapoo was going to have so many empty classrooms in 10 years down the road in 2034. What the current demographic study does is confirm a lot of those things found in the demographic study two years ago. So, that is going to be pretty central to this because I, more so than ever before, I think that we are looking at creating a new era of schools created for modern students and future students instead of trying to keep the facilities that we've had updated into the years.
Skalicky: Well, it'll be an interesting thing and process to watch for sure. Joe, thank you so much for coming in and talking to us.
Hadsall: Happy to do it. Glad to be here.
