Cd'A School District seeks options for more classrooms

 COEUR d'ALENE — Finding an immediate solution to an influx of students in the Coeur d'Alene School District could require more portable buildings, a move that runs counter to a long-term goal of eliminating them from campuses.

"If we shut down all the portables in our district tomorrow, then the next day we would need a new elementary school," said Superintendent Matt Handelman. "Then there's growth on top of that."

Along with recent proposals for shifting attendance zones at elementary and middle schools in the district, the district's Attendance Zone Committee has also prepared options to create more classrooms. Those options are either re-opening Hayden Elementary, or adding more portables to Atlas and Hayden Meadows.

"It seems counterintuitive, that if we have a school sitting there empty we would instead say 'Let's put a couple new portables in.'" Handelman said. "But there are fixed costs to opening a school."

According to a cost analysis provided by the district, adding additional portables to existing campuses next year would cost $74,053 less than opening Hayden Elementary. Over the course of three years, the savings for the portable option would be more than $500,000, according to the analysis, because the district would not have to hire the additional personnel required to open a new school.

If the board of trustees selects the portable plan, Handelman said the district would use two unused portables at Hayden Elementary and pay to move them to Atlas. A new portable would also be purchased, which would be placed on the campus of Hayden Meadows Elementary.

The board will also take into consideration the recommendations of the district's Long Range Planning Committee, which has been tasked with additional school planning and adding to existing campuses in preparation for an increase in the student population. Handelman said one of the tenets of the committee is to plan to move beyond using portables as a method of creating more classrooms, which is in direct opposition to the suggestion to add more next year.

"There's some heartburn with that," Handelman added. "However, we need to live within our means so we are going to be looking very closely at the less-costly model."

Data suggests the district will likely need two more elementary schools within the next decade to address the growth occurring primarily in the northwest region of Coeur d'Alene.

"But that doesn't mean we are going to wait 10 years," Handelman said.

According to Handelman, the committee has suggested the district sell or trade the Hayden Elementary property, which has been appraised at $2.5 million. Proceeds would go toward the long range plan, including building a new elementary school in the northwest portion of the district and financing other building projects at schools.

"Ultimately the board will have to decide if we are running the bond," Handelman added while discussing funding options for new schools in the district.

Handelman said the Long Range Planning Committee is expected to present its initial recommendations for the creation of the new schools — including a timeline and cost analysis — at the school board’s April 4 regular meeting. The informational agenda item would be placed prior to the board taking action on proposed plans for attendance zone changes.

Trustee Dave Eubanks told The Press that although it would have been "nice" if the subdivision builders contributing to the jump in the student population were required to build a school during construction, he is open to suggestions from the community on how to address the district's growth.

"As you know, some of our schools are stuffed to the rafters with kids, and we have to do something," Eubanks said. "Adding portables is one possibility, although it reduces our kids' safety, among other problems. Re-opening Hayden Elementary makes pretty good sense to me, but it's apparently expensive and will be pretty disruptive for many families."