From the Eagle- Tribune;
Timberlane schools may need replacing or renovation Enrollment dropping, but more space needed
By Meghan Carey
mcarey@eagletribune.com
PLAISTOW — Enrollment at Timberlane Regional middle and high schools will decrease by at least 20 percent in the next 10 years. But taxpayers will still need to replace or renovate both schools.
Cramped quarters and outdated technology resulted in the New England School Development Council's recommendation to either renovate and add on to both schools, or to rebuild one and remodel the other. The high school was built 42 years ago, the middle school 35 years ago.
Both schools have been renovated three times, most recently in 2000, but neither is up to modern standards, according to the council.
The report suggests the district seek land to buy for athletic fields and a second access road to the Greenough Road complex in the near future. The building project could be a more long-term plan.
There are no cost estimates for the three options put forth by the $22,000 study, which was conducted last month. Superintendent Richard La Salle could not be reached yesterday to discuss the report.
School Board Chairman William Baldwin did not return phone calls and other board members either could not be reached or deferred comment to him.
There are 1,111 students enrolled in the middle school this year, according to the report. By the 2017-2018 school year, that figure could be down to 823, based on trends in birth rates, home sales and building permits in the district's four towns — Atkinson, Danville, Plaistow and Sandown. At the high school, enrollment could drop from 1,567 to 1,238 students over the same period, according to the report.
Middle school Principal Mike Hogan said yesterday he doesn't think enrollments will drop that dramatically. But either way, his school is too small for the number of students it serves.
"Here's the difficulty: Many of our hallways are very narrow and passing 1,100 kids from class to class and around the building is difficult," Hogan said. "And we have to use every available space, like I said. The changing nature of education just makes it more challenging."
To keep up with 21st century educational programs, the report calls for both schools to expand and update libraries and create labs for science and other new programs.
The high school has two new science labs, which were built over the summer for $500,000. The labs are one of a few issues the council had with the schools that the district had already tried to address.
All doors were equipped with locks in the summer of 2007, and a new traffic pattern and dismissal times were implemented this year. But the report still calls for less congestion and more security.
The district still is waiting for results of an architectural study of the buildings, which La Salle previously said should tell whether the buildings can be renovated or need to be rebuilt, when, and some cost estimates.
Both studies will be used for strategic planning this fall, and to begin budgeting for the future.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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6 comments:
So they are forecasting enrollment to drop by 25% but they Still need more space?
Think when the enrollment drops their budget will drop?
Doubt it!
We are a long way from the one room schools which provided a real education. More room for play time, recess, and other psycho-babble classes. It is not birth rate as the same or more residences will exist. Most parents want a good education for their children and if they cant get it in the public school they make every effort to find a school where education is provided, and most of those schools which provide superior education have facilities, shall we say, are much more conservative in size than TR high and middle schools.
Maybe enrollment is forecasted to drop as more people leave the district to find a decent education fr their kids.
How about, before we worry about 21st Century Educational demands, we master 18th century educational practices. Lie teaching Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic! Maybe some Geography, History, etc.
When Timberlane can do that I will consider their request for more money. As long as I have to PAY Central Catholic to educate my kids, because Timberlane can't do it, I am not giving them any more money.
Despite declining enrollments, the SAU is looking for more teachers, more classrooms, more support staff, and MORE money. The proposed budget is posted at http://danvilledelivery.com. Remember that whatever budget passes will be SUPPLEMENTED by a warrant to pay for the first year of the new teacher contract.
I think you also have to watch the budget process -- remember, they wrapped $500,000 into this current year's budget for science labs at the high school and didn't offer it to us the voters as a separate warrant article (but they did offer the ASD Life Skills renovation at middle school as a warrant article because as Mr. LaSalle said during one of the school board meetings and when asked why this wasn't wrapped into the budget like the science labs, he said there was a better chance the voters wouldn't say "no" to the disabled kids.....and now the high school wants to renovate the vocational spaces????? So first, we have to make sure they reduce the proposed budget by the $500,000 and that they DON'T wrap any more renovation projects into the budget -- they should be warrant articles so we can say "yes" or "no" OR we have to be sure to vote "no" on the budget. And, I will be shocked if any teacher contract passes! Don't know about any of you, but my family hasn't had a raise in 4 years.....
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